Maleficent & Diaval (Maleval) - I'm Alive
by RavenDiablo
Summary: The story parallels the movie and it's events. Taken mostly from Diaval's point of view, it shows how Maleficent and Diaval's initial master/servant relationship evolves into a friendship and finally an intimately romantic relationship. Cover image provided by the lovely and talented Rocz91 from DeviantART. Enjoy and please review!
1. Chapter 1: First Meeting

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 1: First Meeting

Diaval knew he ventured too far into the village, but the succulent smell of fresh corn drew him to the farm. He didn't see anyone or anything in the far corner of the cornfield and picking at some corn really quick shouldn't cause any harm. Or so he thought. Not long after he landed on the corn stalk and started to pick at the corn when all of a sudden he was enveloped by a large net.

In one moment he was trapped under a net with nasty dogs drooling and barking over his head and farmers were with sticks and clubs threating to beat him. And the next moment he could feel his feathered body twist and contort into an unfamiliar shape. His eyes seemed to move forward and his vision changed. He could see deeper, but not as far. He looked his attackers straight into their faces...the dogs jumped back, howled and ran off. "Ahhhhhhhh, It's a demon! one of the farmers exclaimed" Soon all the men all ran off not far behind their dogs. One of the farmers seemed to have lost his bladder in the process as a distinct wet stain formed on the inside of his leg as he ran away.

Diaval took the net off of himself and then he noticed that he no longer had feathers, but bare skin. He had another set of limbs which ended in hands, human hands. He was completely naked and covered in mud. He turned to look at his back and his wings were gone. He reached back to make sure and all he found were shoulder blades instead of wings. He proceeded to caw, but noticed that even changed as well. All what came out was a scream...a human sounding scream. What was this? He scrambled over to a puddle that had formed in the mud nearby and took a good look at his reflection. He was in shock at what looked back at him. He jumped back in fright, and then slowly took a look again. His bird head and beak were replaced with the face of a man. His plumage was replaced by hair, mainly on the top of is head. There were scars around his eyes and he ran his fingers around them. They felt like tight ridges and they split like tree branches around his eyes. He found the same scars down his neck, collarbones and a large one that extended from the base of his neck all the way down to his abdomen. By now he realized he was somehow turned into one of those dreadful humans. Not just any human, but a rather ugly one with a badly scared body. Not that he thought any human to be as beautiful as a black raven. But how? How was this possible?

Just then a dark figure approached him, thinking it was one of the farmers again, he tried to get up and run away, but his new legs were foreign to him. He fell down into the very puddle he was looking into moments ago. He could see in the reflection that figure was now towering over him. He turned around to get a good look. This figure was not a farmer, but a woman. While similar to a human woman, she wasn't like any other woman he seen before. The woman had two huge dark black curving horns that protruded from her scalp. She had hair that extended down to her waistline. She was dressed in a greenish brown gown with large sleeves. In one hand she carried a staff made from a very straight tree branch and it had some kind of stone encased on the end. She was wearing jewelry of some kind made from natural items and one thing that caught his eye was a ring on her right forefinger that was made from the skull of a bird. He cringed a bit staring at the hideous trinket for a while. He also noticed she had some kind of rings that adorned her horns. She appeared to be a person of some importance.

Her face appeared visually striking to him. She had a pair of interestingly colored yellowish green eyes. Her lips were as red as the rose. Her cheekbones were very high up and protruded slightly from her face, more so than any human woman he has seen. Then he noticed her pointed ears. He had heard talk of fae folk within the moors amongst other winged birds and that faeries generally always have pointed ears. But he was used to seeing faeries being small and with insect like wings. This woman that stood before him was the same size as a human only with horns. Could it be possible that this woman was responsible for his changing into a human?

"Come now", the woman spoke in a dark smoke like tone. Her voice seemed very pleasing on his ears. She extended a hand to him. He slowly raised his hand to hers. He noted how her fingers were very long and her fingernails were tapered to a point. Her hands didn't look anything like his. Her fingers were very narrow and dainty. She grabbed on to his hand and began to pull him to his feet. He noticed that she had a very strong grip for a woman with such dainty hands.

Standing up now he was just as tall as the woman, not considering her horns, and could see more clearly into her eyes as they were just about level with each other. He got a better look those eyes now and in addition to being yellow and green, they were also a bit red around the pupils and she had a bluish corona around the edge of her iris. He had never seen eyes like this on any other being.

He tried to speak and surprisingly he was speaking exactly like the humans do in their own language. "Did you do this to me?", the woman's eyes closed partly and she dipped her head down once, nodding a 'Yes'. Now he knew she must be a faerie as she could do magic and apparently a spell was placed upon him.

"What have you done to my beautiful self", Diaval said to the faerie.

"Oh! Would you rather I have left you to be beaten to death by those farmers?" She spoke out in a coy tone. "I saved your life".

Realizing that he was in the wrong and she was correct, he quickly changed his tone. "Forgive me. This is all new to me and I am a bit shocked".

"Understood." she replied.

Wanting to be correct and showing his gratitude, he continued, "I do owe you my life and in return for your kindness in saving mine, I offer to be your servant for as long as you are in need of my services or until my life ends".

"Very well." Satisfied with his offering. "I am Maleficent, Guardian of the Moors. What do I call you?"

"Diaval, my mistress" he said while bowing to her kneeling on one knee in reverence. Apparently she _was _person of great importance and, in a show of respect, he proceeded to take her hand and give her kiss on the hand as he had seen other humans do when addressing royalty. As his lips touched the back of her hand, she immediately pulled it away. She had a look of disgust on her face.

Diaval was a bit shocked by the sudden movement.

"Don't touch me! I don't like to be touched and you are to refrain from doing so in the future. Are we clear on this?" she scolded him angrily.

"Yes, my mistress." he replied in slightly scared tone. "What is it that you need from me" he asked.

"Wings" she answered in her normal voice looking up scanning the sky. Then she started to walk around him, examining her new servant from head to toe. "I need your wings. But, first there are rules." She returned to face him.

"Yes, of course."

"Number one, the castle over there in the distance. You are to spy on the king and queen for me. I want to know anything and everything that goes on there. The littlest detail you hear or see, I am to know about it. Number two, whatever I ask of you to do, or whatever you see me do, you are not to question me. Number three, you already know, you are not to touch me without my consent."

"Understood, my mistress." Diaval agreed "But, may I ask why you don't like to be touched?"

Her eyes glared into his, and he suddenly realized he already did something wrong.

"No, you may not, that is rule number two." she said a bit in an angered tone.

"Yes, I'm Sorry."

"Furthermore, there will be consequences for breaking any of my rules."

Diaval didn't like the sound of this, but he figured there were not many rules to follow and as long as he stuck by them, there would be no reason for him to be punished.

"Let's start back" she said.

Diaval took one step forward and slumped to the ground again in the mud. He struggled to get back up and again tried to gain his footing.

"I am sorry, my mistress, but I am having trouble getting used to this body".

"Well, you are going to have to learn to walk properly if you are going to be any help to me" her voice sounded very stern.

"Come now, let me have your arm, we have a long way to walk back home", she said.

Diaval was hesitant to take her hand again considering that he was scolded just moments ago. But slowly.

"Come, Come, I haven't got all day, I have given you permission." With that, she grabbed his hand and pulled him up and then placed his hand in her arm holding his wrist. "Hold on, I almost forgot."

With a snap of her wrist and some yellow wisps of magic, Diaval was all cleaned up and was fully clothed.

He thought to himself that Maleficent surely possessed some great powers to do the things she did. She proceeded to guide him along as he took his first steps slowly at first, but then a bit faster as he was getting the gist of walking. Occasionally his body did bump into hers and he was afraid he was going to be scolded again, but she didn't. As he was walking with her, he noticed that she gave off a very sweet smell. He couldn't identify the smell, but he certainly was drawn to it. Perhaps it was something given off naturally since she was a faerie.

Maleficent showed him the way into the Moors should he ever be on foot so he wouldn't loose his way. Diaval noticed something different about the Moors, a huge thorned wall seemed to now surround it and that wall was not there a couple days ago.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Don't you know a wall when you see one?", she said sarcastically.

"Yes...but who or what put it here. It wasn't there the other day."

"Raven's are supposedly smart birds, take a wild guess", her voice was becoming a bit annoyed.

"You?"

Maleficent looked towards him, dipped her head a bit and raised her eyebrow, "Uh huh."

The manner in which she answered him, the look on her face seemed very appealing. She certainly didn't seem like any other queen he has come across in his travels. But then again, he hadn't come across any faerie queens.

With a wave of her hand, the thorns pulled in and created a tunnel so the two could enter. The thorns closed in behind them as they walked into the Moors.

Diaval looked at the thorn wall behind them and asked, "To keep out, or keep in."

Maleficent reached her free hand up to her forehead in disgust, "Rule number two", she said wearily, shaking her head back and forth. "Oh, we are going to have to work on this one. "

She blurted out the words shaking her head slightly, "Out! If you must know", her voice was showing she was loosing her patience. Her arm fell back to her side. She continued, "It is to keep the king's army out. I live in here, this is where my home is and where my followers are so I put up the wall for our protection. Now I hope you are satisfied and will stop asking me questions!"

"Oh, thank you, I see now. But are we at war?" She stopped and tilted her head back and closed her eyes. He could feel her hand tighten around his wrist uncomfortably.

"Diaval, I do not want to have to punish you on the first day." She said, glaring straight into his dark eyes. "But I will if you keep pushing", she was becoming angry and squeezed his arm even harder her pointed finger nails starting to dig into his arm.

Starting to become painful, he winced. "Ouch! I'm sorry, my mistress, I will be quiet from now on".

"Good, I need to keep my head clear and think. I will answer most of your questions in good time on my terms", she calmed down and let up on her grip.

Apparently things became clearer to Diaval now and he put two and two together and he figured out there must be some kind of conflict going on between the land of the Moors and the castle that he was instructed to spy on.

"Yes, we are not on good terms with King Stefan". She ended up answering his question anyway.

And she lead him towards the center of the Moors. Diaval looked around and was in awe. While he flew many times through the Moors on wing. Walking on foot and the new vision he had as a human gave him a different perspective.

During their walk back, Diaval couldn't help but look at the statuesque woman that was very close to him. Her gait seemed very proud. He tried to keep passing glances at her to study her face, but tried not to be obvious. In doing so, he felt some sort of feeling he didn't experience before as bird. It was almost like he felt an urge to look at Maleficent's face. Even though Maleficent looked very much like the humans, she was very different and she looked different. Somewhat appealing. He didn't understand this feeling as normally being a bird he was only attracted to those of his kind.

In the distance the two approached a large Rowan Tree. Clearly larger than any other tree on the Moors Diaval was sure to have seen it when he used to fly across the Moors and perhaps once or twice even landed in it. It was on a hill and it had a good view of that part of the land. The large twisted trunk became very wide at the base and then it appeared as if the roots started about 1/3rd the way up the trunk and split themselves down and into the ground like spokes of a wheel. Around this part of the tree a large straw and wood twig structure was built around it that extended up the trunk and into the canopy of the tree. It was almost like the tree had two trunks, one built around the other. As they grew close to the entrance of the dwelling, Maleficent stopped and released Diaval's arm and turned around in front of him.

"This is my home." She said raising her hand in front of her towards the tree. "You will be living here with me."

"Yes, my mistress."

"I will build you a nest in the tree so when I need you, you will be nearby."

"Thank You, that is very kind of you." Diaval was surprised at the generous offering in that he didn't have to go through the trouble of making his own nest.

"Every morning at sunrise you are to go to the castle and report back to me before sunset", she said.

"Now, be off with you, go to the castle now and return to me tonight." With a twist of her wrist and a small yellow plume of sparkles, Diaval changed back to his original form. He jumped up and took wing and circled around the Rowan tree. From far up his good vision returned to him and he could see Maleficent staring up at him watching his every move. She pointed her long finger towards the north end of the Moors in the direction of the castle. With one more swoop around, he sailed off in the direction she was pointing cawing as he went.

She continued to look up in the direction he was flying and then she looked all around the sky. Her eyes misted over a bit. And then she looked down to the ground where she was standing. She looked back up at the sky again and said, "Take wing my new servant and hopefully you will bring me something I can use, something that I can have my revenge".


	2. Chapter 2: A Grand Celebration

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 2: A Grand Celebration.

More than a year had passed since Diaval was Maleficent's servant. For the most part she had treated him very well. He was given free reign of the Moors in his free time when he was dismissed for the day by his mistress. She generally had given him one day off a week, but sometimes he was lucky and was given two days off, but not always. Just about everyday he went to the castle and every night he reported back without fail. Mostly she asked him what the king and queen look like, what they were wearing, and if they were doing anything which seemed out of the ordinary, such as preparing for war. In between Maleficent would have him fetch berries, greens or other fruits for them to eat. She had him do other tasks as well to earn his keep. Sometimes these extra tasks were welcome treat to break up the monotony of going to the castle.

On his days off, Maleficent would show him around the Moors. It was those times where she would speak to him the most. Normally she was always quiet and had a stern look on her face and only spoke to him when she needed something. She never really smiled or laughed. However, it was clear she had a passion for her land and keeping it safe from outsiders and she didn't mind talking about that.

There were a myriad of unusual creatures and faeries on the Moors. Maleficent did a good job explaining each creature as many creatures served a purpose on the Moors. The faeries mostly encouraged things to grow and heal. Maleficent also mentioned that this is her job as well. There were creatures called mudgeons, stone faeries, and wallerbogs. The latter appeared rather disgusting to Diaval as their job was to make mud using their slobber. Their action reminded him of the slobbering of dogs which he detested. He always hated dogs, they always reminded him of the time when he was staring them in the face under that net just before his mistress saved him. Down from the bogs and in the nearby river there were unusual purplish fish that appeared iridescent when they broke the surface of the water. Maleficent said their job was to filter the water and keep it clean. Most of the creatures had some task that kept the land clean and beautiful.

The list of creatures was endless. But Maleficent was true to her word and in time she DID tell him everything. He let her speak as she didn't like to be interrupted while discussing anything.

He met some of her closest friends such as Balthazar, a Tree Sentry, which was a form of being that looked like a sentient tree that could move around and talk just like any other creature of the Moors. Their job was to guard the perimeter of the Moors and alert Maleficent if there is any trouble. The also were the main frontline soldiers in the event of war. There was also a spunky old tree faerie by the name of Robin that befriended Diaval. Robin is a long time friend of Maleficent and even helped to raise her when she was a child. Robin often spoke of 'something that happened' and is the reason why Maleficent is the way she is now. He said she used to be much happier and then that was it. He was not aloud to speak of it and was forced to promise never to speak of it by Maleficent herself. Robin always insisted that a good faerie ALWAYS keeps his or her promise. Robin never betrayed Maleficent's trust. However, all of this piqued Diaval's interest and he thought that something bad happened in her. He would try to talk to Maleficent to see if she would open up.

However, when it came talk of herself or or past, she completely bottled up and she made it clear that his was to be avoided. But sometimes Diaval persisted and he often found himself being punished.

Maleficent's punishments were not severe, painful, or would anyway cause him harm, but sometimes she would change him into something he disliked for a whole day. Or if it was really bad, he was transformed to his original raven form and then placed inside a small black box where he couldn't see or hear anything but yet he was able to breath fine. There was only enough room for him to turn around inside the box. He would loose track of time and never know how long he was in there. On one particular occasion, she had him in the box for nearly a week. She would only open the box to allow him to have food and drink. He hated the box punishment the most and she knew it too.

"I only want to know why you don't have wings like the other faeries"

"I just don't! OK?! _Enough_! You always have trouble with rule number 2. Into the box you go".

"No, my mistress, I just..." and with a wave of her hand he was transformed into a raven.

She calmly and gently picked him up saying, "I don't want to have to do this to you, but I have told you not to question me and yet you continue to do so. You are certainly feisty." She said letting out a sigh. She placed him in the box and was hesitant to close the lid, but she did so. She could hear a weak caw come from the box as she put on the latch. That was the one of the longest times he was in the box.

Finally when she opened the box and nodded her head for him to fly out. She waved her hand, "Into a Man". He stood in front of her with his head down and in a usual ritual he exclaimed, "I broke the rules, it was my and my doing alone to why I was punished, I am sorry, my mistress".

"Very well, apology accepted", she said sternly. "I was out this morning and the main road going to the castle was just bustling with activity. So I released you today because I need you to go to the castle for me and find out what is going on.

"May, I get cleaned up first?"

"No, you must go _now."_

_ "_Yes, my mistress"

With a flick of her hand he was a Raven again and he flew out the door into the direction of the Castle.

Later on when Diaval returned to the Rowan tree, Maleficent wasn't to be found. But Robin was inside her house.

"Good eeeeeevening, Diaval, my friend", Robin said jubilantly.

Diaval cawed as he perched on the table in the room.

"Maleficent has instructed me to tell you to meet her by the large waterfall, she is waiting for you there".

With that he flew off to the waterfall. This area was one of the prettiest areas of the Moors with a large watering hole, creek and all sorts of vegetation. Maleficent often visited this area when she wanted to be alone to think. There were some nice updrafts from the waterfall in this area that Diaval liked to play in and this time was no exception. He caught a nice updraft and was circling and diving. He was particularly happy because this time he had some news from the castle. He caught sight of his mistress from across the lake she was standing there watching him. He circled once around and came down near her and with a yellow magical wisp, he was a man again. He stumbled as he landed.

Maleficent tilted her head back and her eyes glared. As always, she had a stern look on her face.

"Well?" She asked

"Well, I saw nothing, but there's been a..." Diaval paused.

"_What!" _

"A child. King Stefan and the queen has had a child, a baby girl."

"Oh", she replied casually.

"There will be a christening and it is to be a grand celebration", Diaval said.

"A grand celebration for a baby. How wonderful!" A small smile appeared on her face. She continued to smile at him.

"Come now Diaval, you have done an excellent job and there is much to be done, my pet"

"Pet?!" Diaval thought to himself "That's the first time she referred to me as a pet." He wasn't too keen on the idea, but it was definitely better than being referred to as 'servant' or other demeaning names he was called in the past.

"Is this the information you are looking for, my mistress?", he asked.

"It most certainly is", her smile turned to an evil grin, "My revenge will be complete".

Diaval wanted to ask what she meant by that, but after being nearly a week in the black box for punishment, he didn't dare ask and get another 'rule number two' violation.

The two headed back to the where Maleficent had her throne near one of the large bogs past the forest.

Her throne was situated between two large rocks that had stratifications that curled up from the base. When Maleficent sat in her throne she appeared to have wings behind her. The throne itself was a made from a twisted tree and one branch was adorned in a rib like fashion to form the back of the throne.

While walking to her throne, all the while, Maleficent had a grin on her face. She looked to Diaval often and Diaval was happy to see Maleficent have somewhat of a smile on her face. She seemed happy, for once and pleased him as well.

She ordered a small bonfire to be built in front of the throne out near the bog. She assisted with her magic as well. She instructed a group of stone faeries to build a large fire ring around an area near the front of the throne. Once completed, Maleficent ordered some wood faeries to pile on some twigs and logs into the ring. And finally she tossed a ball of fire into the pile and started the blaze. The bon fire lit the whole area up.

She the walked over to throne and spoke out in a booming voice to all that were present.

"I have been given information that will lead to my vengeance against the king." , she bellowed. There were some cheers amongst the faeries that were there.

"Tonight, let's have our _own_ grand celebration!" she yelled out. The cheers amonst the faeries intensified.

She went back behind her throne and pulled out the black punishment box and walked over to Diaval who was near the bonfire.

"Oh, NO, Diaval exclaimed. What for? I didn't break any rules. I thought you were happy with the news I brought you." His heart started to pound.

The smile on Maleficent's face grew a bit wider, and he could almost see her teeth. This was a smile that he doesn't see often. She walked over to the bonfire not taking her eyes off of him. Her face looked good in the light of the fire, which was reflected in her eyes. She then took the box and threw it on the flames.

Diaval couldn't understand what was going on. His punishment box was burning in the flames. What did this mean.

"Fooled You!", she smirked a bit and continued. "You should have seen the look on your face".

Now she's joking around?

"From this day forth", she proceeded to say. "I am no longer going to put you in the isolation box as a form of punishment. Your reward for the information you have given me".

Diaval didn't know what to say at first, but then he exclaimed, "Oh, thank you, my mistress, thank you thank you, he said several times" He got down on one knee and asked, "May I kiss my mistress' hand".

"You may", she replied and held out her right hand." He took her hand in his and he placed a gentle soft kiss on her hand. Her face seemed to be a bit softer as he did so. But the moment was short and she then withdrew her hand.

"There is much to do, but first we eat! Well, have a nice warm meal tonight on the fire."

Everyone cheered and they played games. Dinner was great and soon the bonfire was attracting other fae creatures across the Moors and they joined in on the little celebration. Many faeries came and lit up the night with their magic lights. Diaval was amazed at the site. The faeries were flying to and fro like fireflies. Even the wallerbogs joined in making impressive mud piles as sort of their way of decorating for the festive night.

All the while Maleficent sat on her throne while everyone partied. She sat with her legs to the side and her lower legs under her. She held her staff in one hand and was popping grapes in her mouth with her other. She seemed very content. Every now and then she cracked a small smile to those that looked upon her.

Diaval was still curious as to what Maleficent was planning. It obviously would have to do with the baby. One thing he was worried about was that she might bring harm to the baby...an innocent child not aware of the evils of the world.

Then he had a terrible thought. Maybe she had plans to KILL the child. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask, but he didn't. He knew that Maleficent appeared to be in a good mood and he didn't want to ruin her evening by breaking rule number 2 again, especially since he was free from being placed in the hideous confines of the isolation box again.

"Ok, Diaval, I see the look on your face and I WILL tell you what we are going to do".

"Really?" Diaval was surprised.

"I keep telling you, I will tell you want to know on my terms." Maleficent again reached behind the throne and brought out one of her spell books.

"We are going to put a curse Stefan's baby!" she exclaimed , "What fun!" She said with an evil smirk on her face. "I'll have him writhing like a worm on a hook!"

Diaval had mixed feelings about her comment, his mistress clearly had evil connotations and was bent on harming King Stefan's child. Why, he still didn't know. He smiled along with Maleficent anyway as he didn't want to spoil the evening.

Soon even more fae folk showed up for the party including, Robin.

Robin shouted as he flew to the area, "We are going to have some fun tonight! Yeeeeeee Haawww!"

"Hey Diaval, nice night!" Robin said as he flew nearly into Diaval's face.

"Oh, Maleficent, my lady?", he bowed to her.

"Yes, Robin?"

"Thank you for the party!

"You're Welcome. Go enjoy yourself" she replied jovially.

Robin flew back to Diaval and said, "Woo Hoo, she is in a good mood tonight. And she is looking great too! I haven't seen a glow on her face like that since..." He stopped mid sentence and the smile went from his face.

"What's wrong Robin?" Diaval asked.

"Awww nothing. Let have fun!" The smile returned to Robins face and he flew off doing loops as he went.

Diaval was still very surprised at how Maleficent was acting. But, like Robin, he just rolled with it and didn't ask any questions.

The party continued on through most of the night. Maleficent leaned back against a branch on her throne and tilted her head back with her eyes closed. She was resting a bit. Diaval sat down next to her. Still not being able to comprehend the human feelings he was having, Maleficent, with her neck arched back and eyes closed started to really look good to him. It seems that as the days tick by, her face becomes more and more pleasant to him. Tonight she seemed especially radiant.

"Come here, my pet" Maleficent said softly as she waved her hand and a yellow wisp turned him into his original form. He flew to her side.

She took her fingers and rubbed behind his head. Oh, that felt good! Diaval pushed his head back into her fingers. She was smiling at him.

"You have been a good birdy today, my pet". She rubbed down his folded wings gently.

Diaval was enjoying this moment intensely as this was the first time that Maleficent was touching him and in a caring manner. He didn't read into it though as he reveled in the moment as her rubbing his neck and back felt good.

It was a lovely evening with the stars out and the fire ablaze and everyone that was there was having a good time. Even Balthazar eventually showed up, but he just stood by the side of Maleficent's throne as he usually does and just looked on.

Faeries were zipping back and forth playing all sorts of faerie flying games. Maleficent caught them having fun and Diaval noticed that her eyes were misting over and he could almost see a tear form in one of her eyes.

Diaval hopped on Maleficent's shoulder and returned the gratitude for the nice back rub by placing his head against her cheek.

"Well Well, aren't you the affectionate one now." she said in a soft voice. "Good birdy".

The mood was then broken by a shout. Robin yelled out, "MUD FIGHT!"


	3. Chapter 3: Raven Hair, Ruby Lips, Sparks

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 3: Raven Hair, Ruby Lips, Sparks Fly From Her Fingertips.

A couple of days had passed since Diaval got word of the christening and Maleficent seemed to be in a very good mood. She even let him have 3 days off in a row that week. During these three days, he barely saw his mistress. But she was working on something in her home for most of the days. One thing was for certain, she appeared to be in a much better mood.

When he returned on the morning of the 4th day, Robin was waiting in the doorway of Maleficent's home as he usually does when Diaval returned home to find his mistress out.

"She is waiting by the throne for you" Robin said worriedly "She is up to something and she looks...different. Many of us faeries are starting to become frightened of her."

Diaval cawed and bowed his head acknowledging Robin's instructions. He flew off and went to the throne where the other night they had such a nice party. There his mistress was sitting and as Robin explained, she certainly looked different.

He circled around her a couple times so he could get a good look before she turned him back into a man. She was dressed all in black. Her hair was not visible but was apparently tied up in a new head-dress that wrapped her whole head and even extended down to a choker collar around her neck. She had on a large flowing gown with a long train that pooled behind her while she was sitting on her throne. The collar of the gown was very pronounced and extended out over her shoulders. In the center by her chest was some ornate brooch. Diaval tried to circle in for a better look. Apparently, his mistress was displeased by his circling and when he was within range of her magic...

FLUMP! He practically fell out of the sky and landed face first by the edge of the bog.

"Ooof! That wasn't particularly nice. That hurt!"

She got up and approached him. He could see the details in her new gown better now.

"I don't know why you insist on doing that constant circling. Just land why don't you!" she said in her normal stern voice he was used to.

"Now stand up and take a good look at me", she stated clamly. She turned her face to one side and held her arms and hands up slightly so he could get a good look at her new gown.

"What do you think?" she asked.

He stood up and took a good look at her from head to toe. He _was _impressed with the new gown and she did look very attractive to him, but at the same time, she seemed to have a more menacing look. He kind of felt what Robin described. She carried herself very poised and elegant. She started to sashay back and forth showing her gown off.

"Well? I'm waiting". She was growing impatient.

He got down on one knee and put one arm behind his back and the other arm he waved down in a royal greeting and bowed his head. "You look magnificent, my dear Maleficent". He then realized that he addressed her by her given name and he bit his lip. There surely would be punishment for this. His head remained bowed and he could hear her walking over to him.

She placed her fingers under his chin and lifted his head up so their eyes met.

"Magnificent Maleficent." she smiled, "I like the sound of that." She started to strut off behind Diaval, but then stopped and turned around.

"I don't think you ever addressed me by name before" her voice raised up in pitch slightly.

Diaval thought to himself, "Oh, no, here it comes". Then he said, "I am sorry, my mistress, I was just caught up in the moment. It will not happen again".

"Nonsense, that was a very nice greeting, my pet. Well done!"

Apparently his gesture _was_ a correct way to address royalty and this pleased his mistress. So that got him off the hook.

"Diaval, I am going home and prepare for the christening, you go to the castle and find out exactly when it will be."

"Absolutely, my mistress"

A wave of her hand and he was a raven again. He was happy that Maleficent was still in a good mood and didn't punish him.

Later on in the evening he returned and gave his mistress the news that the christening would be the next day but one.

"Excellent, Excellent, my pet". She was wearing her gown she normally sleeps in and was sitting at a table making herself a new ring. Diaval didn't know why, but ever since he was going to castle for her, she was obsessed with making new jewelry and clothing for herself. If he didn't know any better she seemed like she was dressing up to impress someone. Who, he didn't know and why he didn't know. But he figured that it was one of those 'Rule number 2' questions and never asked. He did ask Robin, but he was clueless as well.

******************************************************

The days came and went, the christening came and went, and it was all over. Maleficent's plan went off without a hitch and she successfully cursed the baby, Aurora. Furthermore, she made King Stefan get on his hands and knees begging her not to do it. She ended up changing the curse from a sleep like death to allow Aurora to be awoken by true love's kiss in exchange for his begging. Maleficent didn't believe in true love and as such the curse was perfect. He didn't know why she believed this as a bird he knew of love...even though he wasn't totally sure as he never experienced it himself.

All the way back from the castle, Maleficent was gloating about her achievement. Diaval felt a bit uneasy about her cursing an innocent baby, but he let her ramble on. This was her moment and he didn't want to put a damper on it in anyway. In a way he was happy that she finally got her revenge, but for what? He didn't ask because he knew she didn't like questions about her past, and questions of those type generally got him punished. But one thing was nagging him when they got back home from the castle...

"True love's kiss?" He asked.

"Yes, Diaval. The curse is perfect because there is no such thing as true love", she said matter matter of factly.  
>"I don't know, my lady, but I thought there was such a thing."<p>

"Nonsense. What do you know of true love as you are just a bird".

"Well, I know that certain birds mate for life."

"Oh?" she had a higher pitched sound in her voice.

"Ravens are such birds"

"Is that so", she replied nonchalantly.

"Well, my pet, it has been a long day and I would like to get some sleep. Off you go, to your nest". He was once a raven again and he flew up to his nest for the night.  
>Maleficent had told him to keep an even closer eye on the castle since the curse has been placed on Aurora. For a time he even instructed to slept out by the castle at night to see if he could learn anything new to bring back to his mistress.<br>Four days went by since the christening and Diaval got his break. He saw three suspicious human women in a horse and buggy traveling down the main road at night. Two women were in the front of the buggy and one was inside the back of the covered wagon. The one in back was trying to get a baby to be quiet. Since he was as black as the night it would be very easy to follow the women in the buggy to see where they went. The women went to into the north woods and Diaval diligently followed. He followed them back to a spot that was very close to the north border of the Moors. There the woman were heading towards an abandoned cottage. The baby was crying and the women tried in vain to get her to calm down.  
>Diaval perched himself on a tree branch right outside the house and didn't make a sound. While the woman were taking things out of the wagon and putting them into the cottage, he overheard talk of not using magic and being in human form and then finally he heard what he wanted to hear. One of the women referred to the baby by the name, Aurora.<br>As he was about to fly off, he couldn't help but notice that women were complete bumbling idiots. He shrugged his wings and flew off to tell Maleficent the good news. Upon his return he found his mistress sitting by her table undoing the wrappings on her head-dress. She was dressed in her evening gown once again.

"The baby, Aurora, is under the care of these three peasant women that have brought her to that old cottage just outside the northern-eastern part of the wall."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes, absolutely", Diaval confirmed. "They referred to the baby as Aurora".

"Splendid! Splendid!" she exclaimed. "Well done, little birdy!" She was happy and gave him a nice smile. "Tomorrow we go together as I would like to see the cottage and the baby for myself", she said. Maleficent was done unwrapping her hair and she let it drop down. It was all mussed up and tangled from being tied up a couple of days. When she was sitting in the chair by her table, her hair almost touched the floor.

"Oh dear, this isn't going to do at all", she was slightly miffed about her hair being mussed.

"May I speak freely, my mistress", he asked

"You may."

"I like it when you wear your hair down."

"You do, huh?", she replied, turning to look at him.

She was ready to give her hand a twist as she does when she performs her magic, but then stopped. Even though she could use her magic to fix her hair, she knew her hair came out better when she combed it by hand.

"Would you like to help me comb it out?", she asked in a soft voice. "That'll be your reward for tonight."

Diaval seemed elated since this was a task he knew he would like. His voice cracked a bit, "It...It would be an honor, my mistress."

"Good! Here you go."

"She handed Diaval her favorite brush that she had on the table. She turned her chair around. The chair had a high back and she placed her hair down the back of the chair and rested her neck on the top most rung on the back of the chair. Her head was tilted up towards the ceiling. Her raven hair hung down from her head. For some reason, she closed her eyes.

Once again, that feeling of attraction had come over him watching her sit that way in the chair.

Diaval came close to her and he gently grabbed some of her locks. This was the first time he was allowed to touch her hair and the feel of it in his hands was unlike anything he touched before. Here hair was amazingly soft. He started to brush down as when he saw her do it many times before, but it snagged right away.  
>"Ouch!" She jumped upright in her seat and glared at him. "No, No, you are not doing it right." She reached out for him to give her the brush back.<p>

"Please, my mistress, as your servant, I would like to do this for you."

"Let me show you the proper way then", she explained "When you get to a part that is knotted, grab here and then brush the knots out, by holding here, it will not pull on my scalp". She demonstrated.

"Now try again and this time, don't let it snag", she instructed.

"Yes. Understood."

She gave him the brush back and he tried again, this time slower. His hands were shaking a bit as another new feeling came over him, he didn't want to hurt her in anyway. When he felt a pull he brushed out the knot as she instructed him to do. She had very long hair and he knew it was going to take a while to get her hair all brushed out.

He grabbed another lock of hair and slowly brushed again. As worked down the length of her hair, he looked to see if her eyes were still closed and they were. He then held a lock of her hair to his nose. Her hair had a very sweet smell. He said to himself as he continued brushing, "So _that_ is where that sweet smell comes from, it's her hair".

Once the knots were combed out he started to stroke the brush down on her hair firmer. Her hair was gently pulling on her scalp. All of a sudden he noticed the rise and fall of his mistress' chest grow deeper and her breaths longer. The look on her face almost seemed like of pleasure, her eyes remained closed.

He proceeded further up and combed the hair around the top of her head. Her breathing deepened. Then he proceeded to brush around the base of her horns and her face seemed to scrunch up a bit and she let out a small moan.

All of a sudden she quickly sat upright in the chair very wide eyed almost as if she was frightened.

"Ok, that's enough." she said, her voice sounded scared.

"What's wrong, my mistress?" Diaval asked.

She looked down at her hair and it was perfectly combed out.

"Nothing is wrong, Diaval. You did a fine job and we are done. Goodnight"

"But mistress..."

"Goodnight" she said again in a firmer tone.

She reached out for the brush and after he handed it to her, she changed him back into a Raven. He flew out the door and up to his nest in the tree. He thought about what happened and the feelings that were running through him while he was coming her hair. The strange thing about it was that he wanted to do it again. However, he couldn't help but keep wondering why she practically pushed him out the front door afterwards. He settled down in his nest and closed his eyes to rest.

Back inside Maleficent's home she still sat in the chair wide eyed at what just happened. She said to herself, "No No No, that didn't just happen! I comb my hair out all the time myself and that has never happened. Why did it feel so good when he did it? No! Maleficent, shame on you ...you are now known as the Mistress of Evil. This feeling isn't good. Shoo, go away!"

She blew out the candles and climbed up to her loft bedroom. The bedroom was round and somewhat resembled an enormous covered nest. She had a round bed made from down and animal hide covers.

She climbed into her bed and cuddled up. A smile was on her face as this was the close of a wonderful day.


	4. Chapter 4: The Watering Hole

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 4: Getting Wet

"Idiot! Why on earth had Stefan put those three in charge of raising a baby is totally beyond my comprehension," exclaimed Maleficent. "What a disaster. Oh, well, it makes my job easier as that baby will die in their hands"

She palmed her hands back and forth as if is that was just that.

Diaval didn't like this one bit. He couldn't see that the baby should die, so an idea popped into his cranium that might just save the baby's life. He ended up talking out of turn and said, "Well, mistress, wouldn't your revenge be sweeter if she lived and fulfilled the curse. That would be rubbing it in King Stefan's face, wouldn't it?"

The ends of Maleficent's mouth curled upward into a smile and she nodded her head in approval.

"My word, Diaval! I AM impressed! You ARE right! See, I knew you had it in you to be evil." she smiled practically from ear to ear.

Diaval looked and again got that weird feeling. He said to himself, "Wow, that is _some_ smile"

"As your reward, you get to watch after the the little beastie and make sure she is fed", she instructed sarcastically.

His plan to save Aurora backfired and he said to himself, "Great! Open beak, insert talon!" Well, that is what he got for speaking out of turn.

So in addition to his task of watching the castle, he also had to watch over the baby Aurora. At night he would go to the cottage and give her some food and some drink. Sometimes he would even use his claw to rock the baby to sleep in her crib. On some nights he had company and Maleficent stayed with him as well, when she didn't have anything else to do.

"Ugly beastie", Maleficent said the first night they went out together and looked at the baby sleeping through a window of the cottage. She hissed and made a nasty looking face and the little baby just looked at her and kept smiling.

Since the cottage was still a bit far off from the Rowan Tree, Maleficent had the idea of extending the thorn barrier into the northern woods so it was even closer to the cottage.

"I will build us another home here within the thorn wall and it will make it easier for us to look after the little beastie." Maleficent said.

The new home was finished in less than a day. It had an opening on either end and Maleficent situated it in such a way that it was nearly impossible to see from the woods side of the barrier, but easy to find on the Moors side, so this way if Diaval got lost trying to find it, all he had to do was go over the thorn barrier and into the Moors side and he would see it. The walls were made of tightly twisted branches and leaves. As with her house in the Rowan Tree, it appear to be mostly grown.

The house was even smaller than Maleficent's home. There were only two rooms in the house as opposed to three in the Rowan Tree. It had a main room which had a seating area with a table and a bedroom in the back. The bedroom was a bit larger than hers in the Rowan Tree. Each room had one small window to let the light in. On one side there was a small hallway that connected both rooms together with one way being the exit to the northern forest and the other the entrance to the Moors.

"Hardly a castle fit for a queen", Diaval sounded displeased with the new home.

"Oh, shoosh, it is just to serve a purpose", Maleficent said with a sigh, "Stop complaining. If I built it too big, it might be seen by outsiders and we can't have that. At least it will keep us sheltered and dry while we keep an eye on the beastie."

"But where am I to sleep?" Diaval asked

"Up there", she pointed to a nest that was built on top of a cabinet in the main room.

Diaval sighed as he saw how tiny the nest was, certainly not the nice large nest she built for him in the Rowan Tree. Worse the nest was INSIDE the house.

"Don't be so glum. We don't have to be here every day, Diaval. Probably once or twice a week we can go back home to my tree. Besides I have to go back there every now and then for supplies and change of clothes too." she sounded hopeful.

She started to walk out the Moors door when Diaval asked, "Did you bring your brush".

She stopped in the doorway and closed her eyes thinking of that one night. "Yes, it's here".

"I would very much like to comb out your hair again."

She couldn't reply to him as she was worried that what happened that one night might happen again. She quickly changed the subject turned to him and said with a bit of a smile on her face, "Would you like to have a little fun?" She raised her hand with her fingers pinched.

"Sure. Whatever pleases you, my mistress". Diaval thought this was a welcome change. What it was he didn't have a clue, but at least she was smiling.

The two walked to the cottage and did a little spying like they normally do. They proceeded to climb up a nearby tree. Diaval was always amazed at Maleficent's climbing ability. She always took half the time to climb a tree than he did.

Once in the tree the two peered into the window of the main room.

"Ok, soooo, where's the fun part?" Diaval asked.

"Watch this!", she answered.

Maleficent gave a wave of her hand and a blue wisp appeared this time. She pursed her lips and blew it towards the cottage.

Inside the three faeries, disguised as humans were sitting at the table trying to make some clothes for the baby by hand.

"Ouch! I pricked my finger!" Knotgrass said.

"I wish we could use magic" Flittle said.

"I wish we had a spinning wheel" Thistletwit said.

"WHAT?!" the other two said together.

"What's that, I felt a few drops of water? Is it raining in here?" Knotgrass said

"No it's not" Flittle said

"Yes it is, I know I felt a few drops on my head" Knotgrass replied.

"We have leak in here?" Thistletwit asked.

Knotgrass placed a bucket where she was sitting and moved to the other side of the table. After a few short moments, the same thing happened to her again at her new location.

"What is this? Drops again?"

Seeing her old spot was now dry she moved the bucket to the new spot and went back to the old spot. Again after a few short moments she felt drops.

"Ok, Ok, one of you two is using magic and you _know_ we can't do that" Knotgrass shouted angrily.

"No we are not!", they shouted together.

"You sure it is isn't just you?", Thistletwit asked of Knotgrass.

"Wait, Wait, Now I feel it too", said Flittle

"Humph," Knotgrass crossed her arms across her chest.

She pointed to Flittle and then Thistletwit. "You go there, and you go there and I will go here"

"Did it go away?", Flittle asked.

"I think so", Thistletwit said in small voice.

All three went back to the table and went back to work.

Back outside Diaval didn't seem to be amused, but Maleficent had an ear to ear smile on her face and she proceeded to blow another blue whisp toward the house. This time lightning flashed in the house and it began to pour in the room.

Maleficent had a huge smile on her face and started to laugh very hard. She held her hand up to her mouth to stifle her laugh a bit, but she still laughed through her fingers. She arched her shoulders forward as she laughed. This caught Diaval's attention as he found her very attractive while laughing like this. At this point he wasn't paying too much attention to what was going on in the house, and his eyes were all on her. Seeing her face light up and her eyes glisten caused a feeling to come over him even stronger than before. He knew he was becoming more and more drawn to his mistress. There was no question about it.

Maleficent saw that Diaval wasn't laughing and misread his thoughts to thinking that wasn't the least bit amused.

"Oh come now, Diaval, have a little fun!"

Just then Knotgrass let out a blood curdling yell, "Aaaaaaarrrrrghhhhh."

This caught Diaval's attention and eventually he couldn't contain his own laughter as he watched the three faeries running around inside trying to get away from the rain. All the while lightning and thunder kept lighting up the windows.

Diaval then busted out laughing himself. This caused Maleficent to laugh even harder. Maleficent put one arm around her mid section and her other hand on his shoulder and said, "Oh! This is hurting my sides! I haven't laughed like this in a _long_ time. There you go, Diaval, I knew you had it in you."

The two climbed back down the tree and started back to their new home and Diaval asked, "Uh, I hope you didn't soak the baby"

"No, she's in the back room which is perfectly dry".

"Aaaaarrrggghhhh!" Another yell came from the cottage.

The two glanced back, looked at each other and started to chuckle as they walked away.

Laughing under his breath, Diaval asked Maleficent, "When is it going to stop?"

"Well, it is a rain storm that has to run it's course", she said with a grin and then resumed laughing.

"You're evil, you know that."

"Yes, I am a baaaaaad girl." She sang out.

While still laughing she put her arm around Diaval's waist and pulled him close to her. He was about to put his arm her shoulder when suddenly 'rule number three' echoed in his head and he quickly withdrew his hand before it touched her shoulder. Maleficent suddenly realized where her arm was and likewise did the same. Laughter turned to silence and awkwardness as both were left without expression on each other's face.

They both regained their composure and headed back to their home in the thorn wall.

* * *

><p><p>

Many moons and about 5 years had passed as Maleficent and Diaval worked together to make sure that the baby Aurora was well fed and taken care of. In that time period Diaval noticed some changes in Maleficent. She seemed to have a softer look on her face and she smiled more frequently. He occasionally called her by her given name and she didn't mind, but he still called her 'mistress' most of the time. She almost never punished him anymore, but every now and then, it still happened when he did something very wrong.

"Diaval, I am going to the watering hole to take a bath."

Since the two were mostly living in the house by the north woods, Maleficent had taken her bath over where the large waterfall was and not at the smaller watering hole by the Rowan Tree as the large watering hole was much closer to their home in the thorn wall. Diaval didn't like the change as the smaller watering hole seemed cozier and safer to him. But still the larger watering hole had the waterfall and that made for some nice misty cool flybys. When his mistress went to take a bath, he always waited until she came home before he went to bathe himself.

"Yes, my mistress", he responded.

"You are free to go for a while, but do check up on Aurora as we don't want her wandering off a cliff like the last time".

"Yes, my mistress"

She waved her hand and with a puff of yellow dust, he was a raven again. He flew off and decided to stretch his wings for while. He did check on Aurora as instructed and she was playing in the backyard with the three faeries so all was well there. He even found some time to check up on the castle to see what King Stefan was up to. For the most part he spent his days sitting in his throne and just brooding. Diaval thought to himself, "Sheesh, he has a boring life". Not much going on at the castle. After that he circled the Moors a few times doing a perimeter check and everything seemed to be well.

It was becoming late and Diaval was feeling gritty from all his flying and it had been a couple days since his last bath. He decided he wanted to take a quick dip himself. He looked at the position of the sun and figured that by now it was nearly twice the time it would take for Maleficent to take her bath, and she should be long done. So he flew back home to check to see if she had returned. On his arrival, he flew through the house and Maleficent was not there.

Hmmmmm, she's not back yet. That's odd. Then a thought flew into his mind. What if she went back to the Rowan Tree to get a change of clothes? Yeah, that's it.

He flew outside and purched himself on a large tree just inside the wall. He waited and waited. Still no sign of her. "She must be by the Rowan Tree", he said to himself and with that he took wing and headed to the tree.

He arrived there soon and again, there was no sign of Maleficent. He flew throughout the whole house and checked within the canopy of the tree as he knows she likes to climb the tree on ocassion.

He started to become concerned and headed for the watering hole next.

When he arrived at the watering hole, he flew over it a few times and carefully looked around. There was still no sign of Maleficent, so _maybe _she's be back at the barrier home by now. It was getting close to dinner time anyway.

Since he was here, it was time for that bath. So he circled around once more and dove into the water. Ahhhhhh, that was refreshing!

He shot back out of the water and circled around again. Coming back he shot straight for the waterfall for a misty flyby. He turned around and aimed right at the falls. In the last second, he noticed someone broke through from underneath the water and came up next to the rock under the waterfall. He stretched out his wings and put on the brakes..."Whoa!" he was thinking to himself. He managed to pull up and around, but this maneuver got him a bit dizzy and he lost his bearings.

SPLASH! Into the water he went. Luckily he fell behind a rock into shallow water, out of eyesight of the waterfall. But he was still very close...too close. He started thinking to himself. Is she still _here_? Why is she still here? He tried to peer around the rock and what he saw made his beak drop. He quickly lost his train of thought as his eyes were trained on her. There by the rock was his mistress. She pulled herself up on the rock with her back towards him and his world went in slow motion. She was completely nude.

As her body slowly emerged from the water, he could see every detail and every curve on her body. She had a perfect hourglass shape with her body tapering down to her waist and then curving back out to her hips. She pulled her legs out of the water and folded them under her while she sat on the rock. She had beautiful legs that also tapered down to her knees. Her lower legs rounded a little out and then also tapered down to her angles. Her head was turned up as the water cascaded down her face and across her body. Her eyes were closed. Then she raised her arms up and grabbed her horns. Her arms were slender, but had defined details, the shoulders especially. Her long hair ran straight down her back. Even in his bird form, he couldn't help but admire the beauty that was before him.

He thought that he over stayed his welcome long enough and it was time to get out of there before he was caught. Since her back was towards him, now was the opportunity to leave. But then she did something that caught his attention. She completely pulled her hair over her left shoulder exposing her back. And that was when is saw them.

Between her shoulder blades, there appeared to be two feathered stumps. The stumps looked as if they were burned. Even in his bird form he understood what he was seeing and he was in shock. She _had _wings. At one time she _had_ wings.

He pulled back behind the rock and started to think. It was all hard to comprehend as to why Maleficent was in this state, but he understood enough to know that something bad happened to his mistress in that she once had wings, but didn't now.

Just then he heard a splash. He slowly peered around the rock again to get another look, but she was gone! Where did she go? He started to look around, but didn't see her. Now he was frightened and his instinct as a bird took over, when frightened fly away. Yes, quickly fly away. With that he jumped up on the rock and spread his wings. But then something in the water was coming towards the rock and caught his attention.

Whoosh! The figure shot out of the water and grabbed a hold of the very rock he was purched on. He was staring his mistress straight in her bare bosom. She opened her eyes and her jaw dropped. He looked up at her face not making a sound. This clearly was NOT good a good situation for him to be in.

"I got to get out of here NOW", he thought to himself. Just as he jumped up to take flight there was that yellow wisp again and then everything went dark.

When he woke up, he was changed into a man. He also was pinned to the very rock that he tried to flee from. His mistress' right hand was firmly wrapped around his throat. Her head was dipped down her bright green eyes glared up linto his dark eyes. Apparently she must have put him under some sort of sleep spell because she was now fully clothed, standing in the shallow water.

"You lousy, stinkin' perverted son of a bitch!", she glared at him angrily "I told you I was coming here to take a bath and you have the gall to come here anyway?"

Diaval started to stutter and gasp, "Ma Ma My lady, I'm sorry, but I thought you would have been long gone by now. It's not what you think. I was looking for you, you weren't at home or at the Rowan Tree. So I came here. I wanted to take a bath myself. I did circle...

"SHUT UP!", she interrupted. "If you wanted a bath you could have went to the OLD watering hole, you know I was using this one".

"But, you NEVER take a bath for this long and I thought it was safe to come here, also I wanted to find you", his voice shakily said.

Her grip tightened and he started to gasp for air. Her fingernails were starting to dig into his neck.

"You...are...choking...me...", he gasped. He became very frightened at how angry she was. But he needed air to breath and with that, he grabbed her arm with both of his. He was amazed at the grip she had as it required both of his hands to remove her one, but he was successful and then he rolled out of the way behind the rock clutching his throat and coughing.

She looked at her arm and it was bleeding, Diaval scratched her unintentionally. She stood there glaring at him and began clenching and unclenching her fists. Diaval started to fear for his life. He never saw her this angry before.

Maleficent looked down at her arm and noticed a small trickle of blood running from a small wound in her forearm down to her hand.

"_You_ made me bleed", she angrily said in an low voice gritting her teeth. She came back at him and grabbed him by the shirt with her left hand and with her right hand she formed a fist and pulled back as if to punch him straight in the face.

"Maleficent, please...It was an honest mistake, I honestly thought you were gone, nothing more. I circled and didn't see you. You were under the water!"

She made her fist tighter and pulled back further. She stared at him blankly for a few seconds, but to Diaval it seemed like minutes.

"Uhhhhhggh", she grunted and let him go. She shook her fists and then slamed her hands on each of his shoulders, pinning him to the rock. The force at which she pushed into him almost knocked the wind out of him. Her yellowish green eyes didn't blink once as she started at him.

She angrily said, "What _am_ I going to do with you?"

She lifted one hand and gave him a light slap across the face. The left side of his face stung mildly. He didn't say anything, but just winced at the slight throbbing of his face. She pulled back and Diaval slid down the rock landing in the water.

She looked at him with narrowed eyes and then turned her hands out and with a wisp yellow said, "Into a dog."

Oh, no. She did it. Worst possible thing was to turn him into something he despised the most, a dog. He crouched down and started to whimper with his tail between his legs sitting there wet from the water. Not only did was he turned into a dog, but he was a _wet_ dog.

She bent over him and lifted one of his drooping ears. "This is your punishment. Do _not_ even _think_ of coming home tonight. Go out to the cottage and stay there all night. I don't want to see your face tonight."

With that she stormed off into the direction of their home. He followed keeping his distance until they got to the thorn wall where she opened it up for him to walk through. At first she was tempted to smack him on the rear with her staff as he walked by, but she stopped mid swing.

He turned to look at her once more and before the thorns closed and she turned her eyes away.

Diaval exited the thorn wall on the other side and sat down. He started to howl and cry.

On the other side of the thorn wall, Maleficent could hear his cries and her faced softened slightly. She knew she had a temper, but did she go too far this time?

She used her magic to heal her arm which was still slowly bleeding from the scratch Diaval gave her.

She was wondering if she did the right thing. Maybe he WAS telling the truth? Did she loose track of time? She just enjoyed the waterfall so much that she was there much longer? But worst of all, he mentioned the water fall. He had to have seen. Now he knows she once had wings so it is unavoidable that she will eventually have to explain her loss to him, and probably it was this that she was fearing the most to deal with. All the emotion and hardship of telling how she lost her wings. After brooding on it for a while, she realized that it was not worth the punishment she doled out on Diaval.

She then waved her hand and the thorn wall opened up again and she ran to the other side. "I owe him an apology. _I _am the one that screwed up this time."

She emerged at the other side and Diaval was not there.

"Diaval", she called eloquently.

"Diaval", she called again, but there was no answer.

"Diaval, answer me." her tone changed as now she was slightly worried.

But there was no answer.

"Diaval!", she shouted, "Please, Diaval, where are you?" The worried tone in her voice intensified.

She ran to the cottage and tried to find him, but didn't want to shout his name as the 3 faeries might hear. She looked all over. Around the house, the backyard, the trees and he wasn't around.

"Oh, no" she thought to herself, "I think I made him run off"

She headed back to the Moors and when she was out of earshot of the cottage she started calling again.

"Diaval, I'm sorry, it's my temper, I was just mad." she called out.

"I was wrong, I admit it. I was there too long and lost track of time. Please, where are you?!"

She slumped down in front of the opening to the Moors and leaned up against one of the thorns. She could feel her eyes start to mist over and she was about to cry. But then she choked back her tears.

"No, he will be fine. I am getting myself bent out of shape for nothing. He is my servant and really doesn't like me anyway. He probably ran off on purpose to get back at me. He will be back."

With that she parted the thorns and made her way back to the house. The thorns closed in behind her. She went inside the house and went straight for bed. She curled up in a ball and couldn't sleep the whole night. She kept thinking where her Diaval could be. Was he safe?

"I will look for you tomorrow, my pet", she whispered "I promise."


	5. Chapter 5: A Room With A View

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 5: A Room With A View.

The next day Maleficent went out looking for Diaval. It was a grey day and she searched the entire north forest for Diaval but could not find him. Every so often she called out to him.

"Diaval! Please come to me", the worried sound in her voice returned.

"Diaval, I'm sorry, I come to bring you back home, I am no longer mad with you"

"Diaval, please! Don't hide from me, I will not hurt you!", she cried out.

Maleficent took notice that her emotions were slipping away again and attempted to regain her composure.

She said to herself, "Where could he be?"

After almost a whole day of searching the north woods, Maleficent returned to the Moors. She summoned Robin. He met her by her original home in the Rowan Tree.

"Robin"

"Yes, lady Maleficent", he bowed his head before her.

"Diaval has gone missing. I would like you to round up the faeries and the tree sentries. Have them look all over the Moors for him. I think he might be in trouble. He is in the form of a black dog with feathers behind his ears and on his tail.

"A dog, my lady?", he questioned "I thought Diaval hated to be turned into a dog."

"Yes, he does", Maleficent confirmed raising her nose up a bit. "He did something bad and as punishment I turned him into a dog."

"Wow, that must have been something really bad for you to do _that_ to him."

"Nevermind that. I have sent him out last night to look over the cottage and he hasn't returned. I went out myself and looked over the entire North Forest and he wasn't to be found. I will try going out again, in case there was something I missed."

"Yes ma'am" and with that he flew out to carry out his task.

Maleficent tried to retrace her steps and went through the north forest again, this time looking closer to streams and other rocks or places where he might be hiding. In her searches, she all of a sudden felt a tug on her gown. She quickly spun around and when she looked down, it was Aurora. Maleficent was shocked to find her in the woods and she tried to shoo the child away.

"Shoo! Shoo!" she said. "Go away, I don't like children".

Aurora reached out her arms wanting to be picked up. Maleficent made a smirk and looked around as if to make sure no one was watching and she picked the child up. Immediately, Aurora grabbed at Maleficent's horns and pulled on them.

"Now Now, those are not to play with", she said. Maleficent looked around and thought perhaps the 3 faeries were nearby, but they weren't anywhere be seen.

"Those nincompoops let you wander again, huh?". Maleficent just shook her head as Aurora just laughed still holding on to her horns. She reached up and moved a whisp of her blonde hair away from her eyes.

She started to take her back in the direction towards the cottage when Aurora, blurted out, "Pretty bird..woof woof." Maleficent was shocked. Apparently in those few words, Maleficent figured out that Aurora was referring to Diaval as she her her call Diaval 'pretty bird' a couple of times before when they were on watch.

"Aurora, where did you see..." she looked around again, as she was too embarassed to say it, "Where did you see...woof woof". Aurora pointed to the west. "Woof Woof is hurt. I heard him howl" Aurora said.

Maleficent thought to herself. Oh no! Diaval is hurt, but what am I going to do? I have to make sure Aurora gets back to the cottage safe, but I want to look for Diaval too.

Just then Maleficent caught a break, she heard the three faeries calling out to Aurora.

"Thank you little beastie", she said to Aurora, "Your aunts are calling you" With that she put her down gave her a push towards the voices calling her and she hid in the shadows.

"There you are" , Knotgrass said she was cross, "Don't you go running off like that again!"

Good, Aurora was safe, Maleficent thought to herself. Now I can go find Diaval.

Maleficent headed west she searched high and low as she went. Soon she hit the main road that lead to the castle. "Can he be this far out?" She knew the forest to the west of the road was dangerous as farmer and trappers set traps to catch wild life out there. Nevertheless she went over the road and started searching the other part of the forest.

It was almost night fall and Maleficent was growing weary from searching all day. Then in the distance, she heard the whimpers and crys of a dog.

"Diaval!" She shouted as loud as she could. She listen and heard a cry in reply.

"Please keep doing that so I can find you", she said worried.

The dog continued yelping and howling and Maleficent knew she was drawing nearer and nearer.

Finally she came to a large tree and found him laying beside it. She was shocked, but turned away for a moment and and put her hand over her mouth as to what she saw. After she regained composure she turned back around and approached the tree.

Laying on the ground was Diaval looking up at her with both of his rear legs caught in a spring loaded animal trap. Blood was pooled all around the trap.

"No, Diaval...you are hurt!" she blurted out. Her emotions were starting to get the best of her.

With a wave of her hand the trap undid itself, but Diaval couldn't move. Both of his back legs were broken. She put her hands on his legs and he howled in pain.

She then waved her hands over his legs and slowly they began to heal, Diaval was howling all the time as this was painful. Maleficent flinched every time he cried out, but she tried not to make it obvious as she kept her head turned away from his and concentrated on healing his legs.

"I know, I know, you will be better soon though". She then turned around and rubbed behind his ears.

Diaval layed on the ground and he felt very faint. The pain was starting to subside after Maleficent's healing his legs. But he couldn't move.

"We have to get you home it is almost dark",

Maleficent turned him back into a bird and picked him up and placed him in a carry pouch she brought along. "It is going to be easier for me to carry you home like this", she said in a soft voice. The pouch was fairly roomy and there was an opening on one end where he could stick his head out. He let out a soft caw.

"Now, now. Rest, my pet", she said softly.

She placed her hand inside the pouch and rubbed in the place he liked behind his head. He nestled down inside the pouch and went fast asleep.

Diaval woke up with a start. "What the..." He was in his human form and he was laying down in a bed. But it wasn't the bedroom back at the house by the barrier. The room in which he was in was round and was built from tree branches. All the branches formed ornate arches to the top of the ceiling. There was a small ladder in the corner that appeared to go up even higher. He knew it could be none other than Maleficent's bed at the Rowan Tree. He was in the room before albeit briefly when he was a bird, but this was the first time he got a good look at the room.

"Oh, boy", he thought to himself "I don't belong here. I am in my mistress' bed. If she catches me here, who knows what she would turn me into next!"

He tried to get out of the bed, but he was still faint from the loss of blood.

FADOOMP! He fell right to the floor and passed out.

Moments later he awoke to find himself back in the bed and his Mistress was looking into his eyes from above him. She was sitting next to him. He once again tried to get up, but she put her hand on his chest and gently pushed him back down on the bed.

"It's Ok, you are to sleep in my bed tonight." she said softly to him. "You must not try to get up, my pet, you are too weak and need time to heal. By tomorrow evening you should be back on your feet." Then her voice became more stern, "Now, I am going to ask what were you doing that far out when I told you to go to the cottage?"

"You turned me into a dog." he blurted out. Ignoring her question completely. "Of all the things to turn me into, you know I don't like being a dog", he said somewhat annoyed. But at the same time he was worried about the tone of voice as he was speaking to his mistress. But the thought of him being turned into a dog, he just had to speak out of turn.

Diaval recalled the time when Maleficent turned him into a wolf for one of her assignments and he was much displeased by that action. Since then Maleficent granted his request and never turned him into a dog or a wolf again. Not even in punishment, but this time it was different as she punished him out of anger.

Maleficent's face looked down and she seemed somewhat shameful.

"It's all my fault and I am very sorry. I couldn't bring myself to admit that as sometimes I am just too proud." she said in a voice so soft he could barely here her.

" I shouldn't have been so hard on you. I just spent too much time swimming and lost track of the time at the watering hole."

"You could have killed me, you know", he replied with a firm tone still in his voice.

"Yes, I do and I said I am sorry.", she said softly hanging her head down. Then she looked up and said in a more stern voice, "Now answer my question, why were you out so far?"

"Well, I was angry and upset with you for turning me into a dog, and I _did_ run off. I know I was out of line, my mistress and I am sorry for doing that." He stopped for a bit.

"Continue."

"Well I was at the edge by the road when my nose caught a wiff of someone cooking a steak and naturally I became hungry and let my nose try to sniff it out. It was already dark and I started to have difficulty seeing. I made one wrong step by that tree and SNAP! I was stuck in that trap bleeding until you found me".

Maleficent held her head in her hands for a moment and then looked up. "Well, that is quite the story and if I have you know, I spent all day looking for you and I am happy that I found you in time. You are here with me and safe."

"Thank you, my mistress" , he still sounded annoyed about being turned into a dog.

"Rest now", she said while getting up. She grabbed her night gown which was hanging over a small chair on the side of the room.

She climbed back downstairs and Diaval was alone in her room. He took a look around and rubbed his hands on the nice fur covers. He kept thinking to himself, "I never slept in a bed before. This is a beautiful! Maleficent sure can build a nice bed". The bed was large enough to easily sleep two people.

"I guess she likes a large bed", he softly said while nestling into the covers as it was a cool evening.

Soon Maleficent came back up to the bedroom and she had her night gown on and she had her hair down. It was messed up again from when she was wearing her head-dress. The night gown she usually wore before going to bed was rather a drab brownish green and it didn't have any ornate markings or designs like her other clothes. To Diaval it appeared to be very plain and not flattering for the queen of the Moors. It covered her arms down to her wrists and her legs down to feet. The only saving grace for the garment was a distinguishing wide v shaped neckline. But tonight she was wearing her gown a bit different from what he seen before. She wore the gown with the neckline pulled to one side exposing her right shoulder as if she put the gown on in haste. He made it quite obvious that he was drawn to her bare shoulder and she picked up on it. She looked at her shoulder and just said, "Oh". And then she straighted her nightgown out covering her shoulder back up.

"Diaval, your legs are still dirty from when I healed you earlier. I would like to get you cleaned up before you rest", she said "I am going back down and get some water and soap."

With that she started to climb back downstairs, but then came right back up. She looked at Diaval with a smile and said, "Oh! Watch this."

With a wave of her hand and a puff of green, the entire roof of the bedroom retracted revealing the evening sky. The tree canopy was directly overhead, but a good side portion was clear which allowed a nice view of the night sky. The sky was still purplish blue as the sun hadn't fully gone down. He could see traces of sun rays in the far distant.

"Shame," Maleficent lamented, "Wish I had thought of that earlier. You would have seen a nice sunset." With that, she turned and went back down.

He tried to sit up in the meantime to admire the view, but he was still feeling faint. The healing process his mistress performed was a very painful procedure and he lost a good amount of blood. He ended up having to lay back down again.

She soon returned with a wash basin, a bladder of water, a bottle of soap, a sponge and some towels.

Diaval said, "I still feel a bit faint, my mistress, would you think tomorrow might be better, or perhaps you should use your magic?"

"No, because your legs have caked on blood stains and your pants also need cleaning." She said. "That isn't good to be laying like that all night." Then she added in a dry tone, "Besides, I don't want my bed messed up."

"I am still feeling faint when I try to sit up."

"Then I will have to help you", she replied. "Come on, undo your pants strap"

While he started to remove his pants, she put the basin on her night table and filled it with water. She got a couple of towels and placed them on the bed.

"I do hope you are wearing an undergarment", she asked.

"Yes, my mistress."

As he slowly started to pull his pants down, she pulled on the cuff of his pants assisting them off. As the pants cleared his thigh's, she could see the damage done by the trap. Luckily the wounds look liked they healed up nicely, but he was going to have another scar on his scar laced body. The surrounding area had quite a bit of dried caked on blood. Her face softened when she saw this. The caked blood ran down his legs to his feet.

"Here, put this towel under your legs"

"Ok". He lifted his legs slightly and pulled the towel under them. "Oh, I feel so weak".

"Rest my pet, I will get you cleaned up."

Maleficent then reached over and put some soap on the sponge. She started with his feet first. At first cleaning his feet make him ticklish and he jumped.

"My, you are a ticklish one, huh?"

"I don't know. Ravens usually are not ticklish in any particular place, but l am still finding out new things with this human body."

"Just rest"

He put his head down on the pillow and she moved up onto the bed, curling her legs under her. Her hair was down, but still messed up.

She then dipped the sponge into the water and put on some more soap. She started up his lower legs, but pushed a bit too hard.

"Ouch! That's a bit too hard, my mistress"

"Sorry, it is a bit hard for me to judge since I am used to only bathing myself", she said.

She lightened up on her touch with the sponge.

"Better?"

"Yes"

She picked up his left ankle with one hand and with her other she began to sponge down his calves. The touch of her hand on his ankle actually felt good. She did the other leg in the same manner.

He started to get a funny feeling again, but in more ways than one. One thing was that he was so used to doing things for his mistress that it felt funny having her doing something for him. But he clearly was out of it and feeling faint, so he couldn't help himself at this point. However, he couldn't help but notice that Maleficent didn't seem to be bothered at all with having to bathe him. Perhaps she _was_ feeling bad about the whole thing. Naw that couldn't be. She didn't really care for him anyway as he was just her servant.

Finished with his lower legs she began to rub the sponge on his upper legs. She seemed to go slower and gentler reaching up more. Getting closer to his hips she bent forward and her night dress was sagging in the middle. He could see straight down her cleavage. He pretended to glance around the room or look up at the night sky. The last thing he wanted was to be caught staring in down into the very same place that got him into so much trouble a couple days ago.

He just closed his eyes to be safe. After a while from sponging him. She stopped what she was doing and he heard her say, "Oh Dear".

"What is it, my mistress?", he said opening his eyes looking at her. He saw her cinching the back of her night gown so that the front part wouldn't hang down. Apparently realizing her mistake.

"Nothing Diaval, just rest, I will continue." Diaval couldn't help but smile.

"What is so funny", she asked.

"Nothing, my mistress"

"Hmmm hummm", she smirked. There was a tone of disbelief in that.

She continued with washing his legs. She pushed his legs apart and knelt between them and then drew the spong on his inner thigh getting very close to the top of his leg. A feeling just shot through him that he couldn't explain. His hands clenched around the blanket on either side of the bed and he gasped!

"What?" She asked. "Is the water too cold?"

Diaval swallowed hard and blurted out 'yes', even though the water temperature was still fine. He was just reacting to the sensation of contact in that particular area.

"It has been sitting a while", she said, "I will warm it back up."

She twisted her wrist and a whisp of green floated to the basin. She then dipped the sponge back into the basin and applied more soap. She proceed now up his other leg. Slowly as she approached higher, the same thing happened, but this time he was bracing for it and looked up at the sky with his eyes closed. But apparently this couldn't hide the fact that he was wincing as she continued to rub the sponge on that area. Also, another feeling came over him and he could feel something going on between his legs.

"Why make such a face, my pet?", she questioned.

"Uh Uh", he was stammering for a response "Just a little pain twitch", he answered worriedly.

She nodded in agreement and with just a few more strokes of the sponge, she said, "Ok, all done"

Whew! He let out a sigh of relief that it was over. She then took the towel that was under his legs and rubbed his legs dry. Thankfully that feeling he had between his legs subsided.

"Thank you, my mistress."

"You're welcome, my pet", she said softly.

He started to take more notice of her voice throughout this night. While she mostly sounded emotionless, tonight her voice was very serene and peaceful. Not at all like when they first met and how stern she was all the time.

She then proceeded to clean up, all the while Diaval's eyes turned to outside. He admired her home very much. Then he took notice of another large structure higher up in the canopy. It also appeared to be very nest like in structure to Maleficent's house.

When she returned, he asked, "What's that up there?"

"That was my home when I was a child. It was home to my parents as well"

"May I ask what happened to your parents?"

She nodded. "They died in the last big war with King Henry," her reply seemed very saddened.

"Mine are both gone too. But I don't recall how, I was just barely able to fly out of the nest at that time."

"Funny how both of us had to fend for ourselves at an early age", she said.

"Yes, it is, my mistress"

She sat down by the foot of the bed and reached for her brush which was on the small table on the side. It wasn't her favorite brush as that was at the other house, but a brush is a brush. She started to comb her hair out, but then stopped.

"Oh, I am so tired. It was a long day", she let out a yawn and then covered her mouth. "I will have to comb this out tomorrow morning."

"May I do that for you, my mistress?" He asked looking hopeful.

She looked at the brush and at first appeared to be worried because of what happened the last time. But because she was so tired, she really didn't feel like brushing her hair out. So, hesitantly, she passed the brush to Diaval.

"Yes, you may", she said and then yawned again.

She turned around on the bed sitting with her back towards him, looking up and outside.

He gently grabbed her locks and slowly started brushing as he did the last time being extra careful not to snag her hair. At first her eyes were open, fighting the urge to close them. He continued to brush out all the knots first and then he brushed down the entire length has he did before. He peered a bit around to her face and her eyes were closed now.

As he continued to brush, he kept looking around to her face. Every so often her face winced. It looked as if she was trying to shake something off. Her head would suddenly twitch too.

Maleficent had her eyes closed and as before, Diaval's brushing started to feel good.

"Why is that? When he brushes my hair, I like it so much." she thought to herself. She started to dip her head down as he brushed downward. This intensified the pulling and she found it enjoyable. Her breathing started to change, but this time she caught it. No. No. Not again! She stopped dipping her head down and that seemed to lessen the pulling. Ok, that's better.

Still the feeling was good. Her faced still winced fighting the feeling.

"Are you OK, my mistress?"

"Yes, I'm just tired."

He continued to brush out her hair.

Diaval was finished combing out most of her hair and then moved to the top of her head. He combed the sides and then carefully and slowly combed around her horns. As before, he noticed that Maleficent's breathing became heavy. As he was combing, she all of a sudden started to tip to one side.

"Mistress?", he softly called out. Her leaning continued and he didn't want her to fall down to the floor. He reached up and held her by the shoulders and gently laid her down on the bed.

"Hmmmmmm" she let out a long sigh.

She just laid there with her eyes closed and her breathing was heavy. She was fast asleep.

Diaval looked around. He was still in her bed and he that would be a no no if she woke up to find him sleeping with her in the same bed. He tried to get up but had a hard time standing on his legs, he started to feel faint as he stood. He knew he needed to rest some more before being able to walk around.

He climbed back into the bed and whispered, "My mistress". He gave her a light shake, but she was completely out. Her breathing caught slightly and she snorted. This caused Diaval to jump a bit.

"Oh, I am going to be in trouble when she wakes up", he thought to himself. But looked so peacefull laying there on the bed, he really didn't want to wake her up. He was tired too and he rested his head on the pillow when an idea hit him.

"Pillow! That's it! I'll just put the pillow between us and that should be good enough to 'separate' the bed." But as he turned to get the pillow, Maleficent turned abruptly towards him throwing her arm across his waist.

Immediately he tried to remove her arm and put it by her side, but as he grabbed her wrist, she curled her hand around his waist tighter and let out a sigh, "Hummmmmmmm".

Diaval looked at her face, she was still fast asleep.

He just looked back up at the night sky, it was pitch black outside. He knew he was going to be in trouble the next day and there would be punishment. So he said softly, "Well, so be it." Wondering what she might do to him, he placed both of his hands on the arm that was draped across his waist. One hand he placed over her hand and the other hand he rested on her upper arm. Her arm felt good in his hands.

She let out a small moan, "Uhmmmmm". Her hand tightend around his waist even more.

At first he started to withdraw his hands, but then he stopped. A thought flew into his mind at how special it was to be laying beside his mistress. He wondered what it would be like to do this all the time, impossible as that would seem. She would never allow it. But he knew that this was probably going to be the one and only time and so he revelled in the moment.

He kept staring at his mistress' face. Studying every detail every line. A few locks of her hair had fallen between them. He couldn't help but take hold of the locks and run his fingers through them.

At this time his eyes were getting heavy too and he too drifted off to sleep looking at her face. The last thing he focused on were her red ruby lips. Her lips were nice and full...much fuller than his own. They were puckered a bit and partly open. He had seen humans kiss before and a fleeting thought ran through his mind as he developed a sudden desire to press his lips against those ruby red ones. But he immediately shook the idea off knowing that would be something that would not, or rather could not happen.

Maleficent woke up the next morning with the sun shining through the canopy above. She gasped when she realized that she was lying tightly up against Diavals body and her arm was around his waist. Furthermore, his hands were resting on her arm!

She slowly withdrew her arm, letting his hands fall to the side.

"I must have fallen asleep here, but how did my arm get around his waist?", she thought to herself. At first she thought the worst and that he put her arm there while sleeping. But she thought for a moment and said, "No, he wouldn't be _that_ stupid." Perhaps it was another accident. She knew herself that she awoken many times with her arm around her pillow. Yes, that was it, she must have thought she put her arm around her pillow in her sleep.

She lifted up her head and looked at Diaval. He was still fast asleep. She then began to study his face, taking note of his scars on his face and collarbones. She slowly reached her hand up to his collarbone and slowly ran her finger across the scar there.

The tightly ridged feeling of the scar under her finger felt suprisingly good. She did it again, but lighter this time.

She raised an eyebrow and thought to herself. That _does_ feel good. Just then Diaval's eyes flew open startling her. She played off what she was doing and made as if she was pushing his shoulder to wake up.

"Good Morning, my pet", she said with a smile.

"Good Morning, my mistress", Diaval responded.

"Are you feeling well rested?", she asked

"Yes, quite so." He turned around and moved to a seating position and then carefully stood up. "The weak, faint feeling has passed."

"Are you up to flying?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"Splendid! Please be a good birdy and fetch us some breakfast."

"Delighted to, my mistress"

With a wave of her hand, he turned into his normal self and flew out the open roof of the bedroom. Maleficent stood up and watched as he flew off into the distance.

"Oh, I so envy you. With all my magic, you can still do something I no longer can".

A single tear rolled down her cheek.


	6. Chapter 6: The Mane Event

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 6 – The 'MANE' event

"So, she turned you into a dog, huh?" Robin asked.

"Yes," replied Diaval.

The two were talking at the watering hole shortly after Maleficent and Diaval had breakfast together. They were sitting waterside and both had long sticks poking at the rocks by the edge of the water.

"Question", Robin said. "What did you do to deserve being punished like that?"

"She took a long bath and I thought she was done. I came here and saw her, over there there by that rock" He took a long hard breath. "I saw her nude".

"Whoo, hoo hoo!" Robin shouted. "Oh, yeah, that would most certainly put you in the _dog_ house for sure." Robin couldn't help the pun.

"Robin, she was angry beyond all reason. I thought she was going to kill me. She was ready to slam her fist right in my face. She had me pinned with one arm! Here take a look and see", Diaval showed Robin the slight indentations on his neck where Maleficent dug her fingernails in."

Robin whistled upon examining Diaval's neck. "Yes, Diaval, that one certainly does have a temperature with low boiling point. She doesn't have horns for nothing, you know.", he chuckled a bit. "So what stopped her?"

"I don't know. She let out a grunt, dropped her fist, pinned me to the rock and slapped me", Diaval described the chain of events the other night. "Then she turned me into a dog."

"Yes, I know all too well", he sighed. "You never want to make Maleficent angry...especially with her power. Maleficent and her power are a serious force to be reckoned with."

Robin continued, "The last time she got really angry was when..." He stopped dead in his train of thought and then changed the subject.

"You saw her nude, you said."

"Yes."

"Did you happen to see something you shouldn't have, or out of the ordinary."

"Yes", Diaval paused for a moment but then continued. "Yes, I saw her back. The stumps on her back, specifically."

"Oh, so now you know", Robin's heart sank. He started jabbing at the rocks harder.

"What do I know?" Diaval asked "I know that she had wings, but I still don't know why she doesn't her wings now." Diaval looked at Robin and asked, "You know why...don't you?"

Robin flew up to Diaval's face and gave him a blank stare, "What of it? What if I do? Nope! I am not going to answer that! You can skewer me, boil me and put me in a stew, but I am not going to break my promise with Maleficent", Robin said angrily. "That is something you will have to wait until she tells you herself."

"Whoa Whoa, little fellow. Cool down! I just asked", Diaval was a bit put off at seeing Robin get angry.

Robin cooled down and flew down to a rock and took a seat.

"I will continue with what I was about to say before, since you now know", Robin said in his normal voice. "I was going to say the last time she got as angry as you described was when she lost her wings.

That was a dark day on the Moors, I can say. She made that hideous thorn wall that surrounds us. Not that I am _really_ complaining as that wall does keep us safe. It's just ugly. She made the sky a few shades more gray. The moors became more drab looking as she started only make dark flowers grow.

But the worst thing was when she decided to declare herself Queen of the Moors and she made that aweful throne on the Faerie Mound. Now everyone bows to her. It used to me much nicer here when we didn't have to do that", he paused.

"Please continue Robin", Diaval said.

"It was so green and lush and and much more beautiful and colorful than it looks now".

"That is funny as I always thought it looked beautiful here as it is"

"Oh, no, it was MUCH prettier around here. Lots of colors and the sun was very bright. There wasn't this dang haze that we have now."

"Maleficent was more fun. She laughed, she played with us", Robin lamented. "She loved to play hide and seek and play jokes on the other fae folk." he sighed. Diaval found it hard to picture Maleficent having fun in the manner that Robin described. "Oh, how I miss those times" he shook his head. Then his sadness switched to anger.

"It was that Ki..." He abruptly stopped mid sentence as he was about to say something in that Diaval could put two and two together and make the connection between King Stefan and the loss of Maleficent's wings.

"King Stefan?", Diaval completed Robin's thought.

"No! No! That wasn't what I was going to say", Robin lied.

"Then what _were _you going to say?" Diaval asked.

"No, nothing. I wish not to discuss this anymore. It is hard enough to see the changes in Maleficent and not liking what she has become. But I swore an oath I wouldn't discuss the loss of her wings with anyone and I already told you too much", Robin said. "I only did so as much so as you are my friend as well, Diaval."

Robin hung his head low and there was a saddened look in his eyes. He threw his stick into the water. "I would like to be alone now", his voice sounded sad. "Have a good day, Diaval, perhaps we will talk later".

"Understood, and good day", Diaval replied.

Robin took to wing and flew towards his home near the east side of the Moors.

Diaval got up and walked to a tree, he put his hand on the bark and looked around. It was soon going to be fall and already some of the leaves were changing. Fall was a beautiful time on the Moors when it WAS colorful. He decided to take the scenery in and he climbed up the tree as Maleficent always had done. He situated himself comfortably between a couple of branches and looked on out to the watering hole.

The watering hole certainly was a beautiful spot. He would watch faeries zoom back and forth and ever so often take a dip or bath in the water. Soon he grew tired and nestled into the branches and drifted off to sleep.

"Diaval!", he heard a voice slowly coming out of his sleep.

"Diaval, wake up now!", the voice sternly shouted up to him. He looked up trying to focus his eyes. His mistress was looking up from the base of the tree.

"Oh! Forgive me, my mistrees, I must have dozed off", he said as he started back down the tree.

"I have a special treat for you today. Come, follow me", her voice sounded a bit lighter now.

Maleficent lead him close to where the the barrier house was. Just south of this area was a large expanse of open field with short grass growths that seemed to have gone towards the south for miles.

When they arrived she said, "I am going to change you into a horse today and you will need to get used to that form."

"A horse, my mistress?" he questioned.

"Yes, a horse."

Diaval was used to having animal changing sessions with Maleficent. She would mostly do this to see what his abilities were and what tasks he could accomplish for her in different forms. He didn't ask why anymore as that did constitute a rule #2 violation. So over the years, he learned to just roll with it, like if he had much choice.

Most of the time an animal form didn't work out and Maleficent wouldn't turn him into that form again. There were times he disliked being a certain animal and she was kind to him and avoided that particular animal.

Some of these animal transformations were welcome, but many were not.

As a horse, he was magnificent. All black shiny hair and feathers for a mane and a tail. The form impressed Diaval. But he took one step and immediately collapsed on his side. Malficent was always nearby to help him back on his feet. Another learning curve...

For a few days, he was the horse and Maleficent taught him to walk and turn properly. By the 5th day he was running and trotting like a seasoned animal.

The 6th day they went out to the field. Maleficent was dressed in a slightly different green gown and her hair was down. The gown was like her other green gown he saw her in many times, but it had an unusual series of buttons that ran down one side of the skirt part of the dress. So why the change? He didn't know and didn't ask. But Diaval was excited.

"I really like being the horse. I feel so regal and majestic", he said happily.

"Yes, it is a form that suits you", she said matter of factly.

"Would you like to give me a ride?" she asked.

Diaval was stunned at first. But the thought of his mistress riding on his back seemed to be a dream come true. He blurted out an immediate "YES!"

She smiled and then waved her hand, "Into a Horse"

With that he whinnied and then bowed his head in front of his mistress and proceeded to crouch his front legs down, keepin his right leg a bit turned out, welcoming her to climb on.

"Diaval! Even as a horse, you are a gentleman." she said in a sweet tone. "Good birdy!"

He shook his head as she climbed on. Her dress was somewhat hindering her but then she unbuttoned the one side and then she swung her bare leg over his back. Whoa! That was unexected! She grabbed a hold of a ruff that was at the base of his neck. It seemed like a natural place for her to hold on to.

He slowly got up. He wasn't used to having extra weight on his back. He looked back and forth with his head to get a good look at Maleficent on his back. On her right side her dress went all the way down her leg, but on the left side, her leg was bare up to mid thigh. He tried not to stare with that one eye fixed on her bare leg on his back, but then he turned his head further up and the sight of his mistress on his back just gave him a good feeling all over. He knew this would be a moment to remember for a very long time. And she seemed happy too.

"Ok, now, my pet, go forward _slowly._"

He did so, very carefully. The last thing Diaval wanted was to do something wrong and his mistress falls off of him. He did feel her weight shift back and forth, but she wasn't heavy at all. Soon he was walking at a brisk pace.

"Excellent Diaval", she exlaimed. Every now and then he did try to get a glance back looking up at his mistress. She was sitting so straight, her shoulders were pinned back and her chin was up. She had the littlest smile on her face. She started to rub her hand up and down his mane.

Ooooo, that felt nice! He thought. He hung his head low as he went forward. She started to rub the sides of his neck. That also felt really nice.

"Ok, now, trot!" She ordered.

Trot?! Oh, I am not so sure about this. I do hope she holds on tight. Once he felt her put both her hands on the ruff of his neck, he started to go a bit faster and slowly ease into a trot. As they neared the end of the clearing, he turned around to go back and then trotted again. He glanced a look up and his mistress had her eyes closed. He thought, could she be enjoying this as much as we was.

"Run now!" She ordered.

RUN! No, no way! I can't do that, she will fall off and get hurt. He immediately stopped.

"Diaval, I said run, not stop!", she said in a cross manner.

Diaval shook his head back and forth as to say, "No". He knew his mistress wouldn't be happy with that.

She leaned towards his ear. "Diaval, you as a horse are no good to me if you can't run. You MUST run with me on you. I will be fine, now go!"

There was no getting out of this. He knew that if he didn't run for her that punshment would surely be waiting when whey got back. Or worse, what if she get so upset that she turns him into a dog again. No, he HAD to do what she said, as he was her servant. No was not an option.

He slowly walked into a trott and then into a slow run.

"Diaval", her voice was stern.

He looked back at her and she made a pushing forward motion with her hands.

"Move it!", she gave him a slight slap on the rear.

Ouch! She didn't have to do that! He sprang forward, but almost lost his balance. He swayed a bit from side to side and he could feel his mistress' grip tightening. He took a quick glance back and she had a bit of a frightened look on her face. He slowed back down and got his stride again.

"Ok, I'm sorry, I will not do that again, but run now, my pet".

He let out a long snort and looked ahead. The clearing was straight and long. Here goes nothing! He started to go fast. He could feel Maleficent's weight curling up as she leaned forward her head was nearly above his neck. Her mouth was close to his ears.

"Faster" she spoke down to his ears."

Oh sheesh! This woman loves to live dangerously. I hope I don't live to regret this! Faster he went.

"Faster" she spoke again.

Oh, please! He still went faster, but worried the whole time. They were now clearing the field in record time and the turn arounds became more often. At this pace, he clearly was outgrowing the vast field.

He could feel her bounce on his back and was scared she might fall, but then she held on with her legs squeezing into his side.

He quickly glanced up and her eyes were closed and her head tilted a bit to the sky. The wind from his running was causing her hair to trail all the way in back of her. She was an awesome site.

Maleficent was sitting with her eyes closed on Diavals back letting the wind blow past her face. He WAS going fast. She held on to his ruff and leaned forward. Her legs tightening around his body. For a moment she felt she had her wings again and was gliding on an updraft. When she opened her eyes it was as if she was flying low.

"This is beautiful! Not quite the same as flying, but sure a darn close second." She thought to herself.

"Diaval, I grow weary of this field...lets ride through the Moors, but please don't slow down." she asked.

Don't slow down?! I just hope I don't have to make a tight turn. A tight turn at this speed would be crazy.

"Take us to the watering hole, my pet, I am sure you are thirsty by now"

She certainly was right about that! He _was_ thirsty. Having been running for what seemed like an age. Coming to a stop would be much welcome.

They ran off to the large watering hole with the waterfall and what normally would take about a half hour to walk to, they were there in less than 1/3rd the time.

When they arrived. Diaval stopped directly at the water and shoved his snout in for a drink.

"My, you are thirsty!" his mistress said as she dismounted him.

Diaval caught a flash of red go by. It was Robin. He went straight to Maleficent, but kept looking at Diaval.

"Is that Diaval?", he asked. "And were you riding him?"

"Yes", she said.

"Hmmmm, he does make for an impressive looking horse", Robin said.

"That he most certainly does." She agreed "And he's fast too."

Robin noticed that Maleficent had a bright smile on her face and she was almost glowing.

She sat down on a rock by the water with her knees up and she placed her arms on her knees. Her one leg was still exposed from when she fixed her dress to be able to ride Diaval.

"That was wonderful!", she shouted. Then with a twist of her wrist, "Into A Man".

Diaval changed into a man, but he was on all fours and his face was buried into the water.

Both Maleficent and Robin laughed at the position he transformed in.

Diaval pulled his face out of the water.

"Oh!" He said and he was a bit disoriented.

While they were laughing, Diaval exlaimed, "That was incredible."

"Yes, it was," she said. She had a wide smile on her face an her eyes glistened.

"Now I _really_ enjoy being the horse." Diaval said. The expression on his face made Maleficent and Robin laugh.

Diaval sat down next to Maleficent on the side where she still had her leg exposed. He couldn't help but take a glance at her bare leg. It was a nice porcelain color in the sun. Her leg looked very smooth. But his eyes lingered too long and she noticed.

"Oh", she said. "I forgot" She stood up and proceeded to cover her leg up, buttoning down the side.

"Wait, my mistress", Diaval said, knowing by buttoning up her dress she wasn't going to be riding him anymore. "Don't you want me to ride you back home?"

"That'll be all for today Diaval." her voice returned to normal. "You may have the rest of the day off. Would you like to stay this way, or go back to your raven form."

"I'll stay as I am sure Robin wants to hear how my day was as a horse."

"Very well. I am going back to the Rowan Tree. Meet me there by nightfall. We will have dinner together and sleep there tonight."

"Sounds great!" Diaval said.

She turned and started back in the direction of the Rowan Tree.

When she was gone, Robin asked, "Maleficent is laughing and smiling...Dinner together? What did you do? You had her lit up like the Aurora Borialis!"

Diaval stifled a laugh, "You saw...she was riding on my back. It was the first time for me and it was the first time for her riding on a horse. I think we both just got carried away."

"I hope she stays this way. I think you are having an effect on her." Robin hinted.

"Naw, I am her servant. That's all I will be. She doesn't like me _that_ way. Look, she changed me into a dog a couple of days ago, remember? In addition, when I was a horse she even said she needed me to run fast as a slow horse wouldn't be good for her. It is obvious she had me be a horse for several days now for a purpose".

"Hmmmm, you're probably right", Robin agreed. "But still, I have not seen her that happy since...well that night at the bonfire when we had the party."

"Yes, she was pretty happy that night too. But don't read into it too deep, Robin." He shook his head. "Maleficent just slips back to her old self and it's business as usual. But I do admit she has her happy moments more often, of late."

"She used to be this way all the time though. She was always happy when she had her wings." Robin paused. Diaval could tell he was in for a long afternoon filled with Robin's stories, they were always a treat.

Robin continued to tell more of the days when Maleficent was young and had her wings. All the parties they used to have, the tricks they played on the other faeries. Thier talk continued on into the evening and the sun started to disappear behind the trees.

"Well, Robin, the sun will be setting soon and I will be going back to meet with Maleficent." he said.

"Do you think you are going to be the horse again tomorrow?", Robin asked.

"It's a good possibility as right now she has me in training as a horse", Diaval replied.

"Do you think she will ride you again?"

"I believe so. It was very enjoyable and I certainly would like that experience again."

"Have a goodnight then Diaval"

"Goodnight to you too!"

Later that evening after dinner, Maleficent lounged back looking at Diaval. "That was good if I do say so myself."

"Yes, it was", Diaval agreed. "Thank you for dinner".

"You're Welcome, my pet", while she seemed happy and very polite now. However, her demeanor quickly changed back to her stark self. "I know you been talking to Robin and I am curious as to what."

"Specifically, my mistress?" he questioned.

"You know what I mean", she said even more sternly.

"We did talk about the other day what happened at the watering hole and yes, I did mention accidentally seeing you nude.", he shakily replied. "That's all."

She leaned forward and her bright yellow green eyes met his dark eyes. Her look was piercing and it appeared she was getting angry.

"You saw something else, didn't you?" She asked.

Diaval was afraid to answer, since the good moment from earlier was now gone and it appears she was becoming irrate again. But he didn't want to lie either as she would always have some way of finding out the truth anyway.

In a small voice he said, "Yes, I did. I..I saw your back." She turned her head away and her face had the look on it as if her world came crashing down around her. But then she turned and glared at him again.

"What did Robin tell you?", she asked.

"Nothing. He refused to tell me anything. I didn't push either. He only mentioned that there was a time when you had wings. He even said if I want to know why you don't have wings anymore that I should ask you."

She softened her look and leaned back in her chair. "Good! He kept his promise to me."

"Can _you_ tell me why and how you don't have your wings anymore?"

The look on her face changed and got very soft. Her eyes started to glisten and she held her hand over her mouth.

She then exhaled deeply and said, "I can't. Not now."

"Please, my mistress I..."

She interrupted him, "Diaval, I said, 'no'. Please don't be so pushy! I had a nice day with you today and I thank you for letting me ride you. Please don't ruin this day by making me punish you. Goodnight."

With a flick of her wrist he was a bird standing on the table. He didn't move at all. He was now glaring at her.

She put her face right up to his beak, "Goodnight! Now be off with you."

He hopped to the edge of the table, and looked back. He started to squak and caw.

"Don't you take that tone with me, Diaval!", she angrily said. "Now shoo!"

He took wing and flew out the door chattering and cawing. Maleficent got up and followed. She expected him to fly up to his nest, but instead he darted off to the north east woods.

"Diaval! You are supposed to stay here with me!" she shouted. He ignored her and continued on. She watched him fly off as the last rays of sun slipped beneath the horizon.

"There you go again Mal, chasing him off again He must really hate you now." She began to talk to herself out loud. "But how can I explain to him without all these emotions coming over me. It has now been years since since Stefan hurt me and even though I try to shut it out and harden my heart, it still continues to hurt. I can't show this to Diaval, I can't show him I am weak. But one day I will have to tell him, that is unavoidable. I am just not ready now."

Maleficent climbed up to her bedroom. It was a cool night and the roof was still retracted from earlier. She was ready to wave her hand to close the roof, but then didn't. She thought it was a nice night out and the moon was coming up. But more so, perhaps just by the slightest chance, maybe he would come back. Just maybe he would fly into her bedroom and land beside her in the bed.

She sat down on the bed and for some reason unbuttoned the lower part of her dress as she did when she rode Diaval earlier. She pulled back her dress and started to look at her leg. "He seemed interested in my leg", she said. She raised her lower leg up and down while looking at it. She could see her thigh muscle flex. She pointed out her foot and reached behind her calf. She could feel an indentation form as her calf muscle moved up. She could tell her legs became larger and appeared much stronger than when she first started to walk on them several years back. She also recalled that in recent years she was able to walk fast indeed. She wasn't quite up to a run yet, but she certainly could walk very fast.

"Was he attracted to my leg?" she thought to herself. "Naw, couldn't be." She brought her leg up to her chest and rested her face on her knee as she looked out at the moon rising. "It will be a nice night out", she said.

She then got up and changed into her night gown and then crawled into bed. The cool night hinted that fall was approaching and she pulled the covers up to her face.

"Rest well, my pet, where ever you might be, but please come back to me in the morning...or even sooner if you like."

For the first part of the night, Maleficent tossed and turned. She kept thinking where Diaval might have flown off to and feared that he might be in trouble again like the other night when he was a dog. But then she heard a wing flutter and a caw, break the night silence and Diaval flew right into her bedroom and landed right on her bed.

"Diaval, You came back." She said. She was about to raise her hand to change him back into a human. But he just, bowed his head and cawed, and then immediately flew up to his nest.

"Oh, You don't want to be changed back then", her voice sounded disappointed.

Maleficent rested easier with the thought that Diaval was back home and safe.

She drifted off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7: Apples and Mud Pies

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 7, Apples & Mud Pies

"Curious little beastie", Maleficent said as she and Diaval were looking on as the now 15 year old Aurora was searching all around the thorn wall for some kind of opening.

Maleficent seemed to enjoy it more and more going out to the cottage. Over the years she appeared to grow fond of Aurora, but she still kept her distance, especially now that the child was in her teens and her senses were keener and Maleficent knew that Aurora had the feeling she was being watched. Diaval didn't know what to make of Maleficent's personal interests in Aurora, but it was clear there was something more going on than her bent on seeing the curse play out.

In the past several years, King Stefan attempted two large attacks against the Moors, but his feable army was no match for the thorn wall Maleficent made. Thusfar the past two years he made no further attempt to attack. However, something was going on over at the castle too as many of the ornate furnishings and decorations were being replaced with iron plating and armorments. King Stefan was clearly up to something and this is what Diaval wanted to find out. He knew bringing back good information for Maleficent to use made her happy and he was always rewarded well.

Diaval suspected that as the day of Aurora's 16th birthday neared that King Stefan might have a plan to draw Maleficent to his castle and perhaps fight her on his turf since fighting her at the Moors was nearly impossible. Given these changes, Diaval started to go out at night while Maleficent checked up on Aurora alone.

Diaval was early back on his trip out to the castle one day. On his return of this day Maleficent had the news that she ran into Aurora and the two had spoken. Aurora thought her to be her Faerie Godmother!

"What?" Diaval laughed, "You got to be kidding me."

Maleficent passed a shocked look at Diaval "Why not?", she said with a pouty face.

"Oh No...You mean it?!" Diaval himself sounded shocked, "You lead her on to believe that?"

"Diaval, I don't like your tone of voice. Don't you mock me."

"I'm sorry, my mistress", he apologized, but still he was caught stifling a giggle.

Maleficent looked at him crossly and then said, "Don't you tell her otherwise either or there will be consquences. Oh! And never call me by my name in front of her either. I have told Robin to do the same."

"Ok, Ok. Whoa, Wait. What do you mean tell her?" he asked.

"You are going to accompany me tonight and meet Aurora", she said. "You are to look your best too."

"Ye..Yes, my mistress." Diaval was a bit frightened about the prospect of meeting the human princess up close and in person.

It had been many years past and it was some time since he received any kind of punishment from Maleficent. She many times now instead of saying 'you will be punished', she liked using the line, 'there will be consequences.' But Diaval knew this meant he would be punished.

Another change Diaval noticed was that she no longer referred to him as a servant, but as her confidant or on rare occassions she introduced him has her friend. He was hoping that his meeing with Aurora would be such a night.

In that same amount of time, Diaval never brought up the loss of Maleficent's wings again. However, he was hoping one day she would tell him as she said she would.

The years seem to fly by and Maleficent seemed to slow down on her changing Diaval into other animals. She seemed to be content with his normal bird form, his horse form and his man form. In fact the past year, those three forms were all he saw himself change into. Being the horse was always a treat as he knew that meant that he needed to take his mistress someplace fast. But sometimes they would just ride together for the fun of it racing up and down the Moors. For Diaval, not only did he enjoy being the horse, but this was the one time where he was in contact with his mistress as he loved the feel of her riding on his back. He never threw her from his back once. He as very careful and always gentle. It was during these riding sessions he could feel his bonds growing as he enjoyed watching her face light up and beam when he would ride with her very fast. They never went anywhere slow, he always rode at top speed and he knew she loved it.

But tonight was special, for the first time, he was going to meet and talk with Aurora. Maleficent wore a head-dress similar to the one she had at Aurora's christening. She wore a similar black dress but it was different in that it didn't have the long train behind her and the dress was shorter showing more of her lower legs. It made for easier walking around the Moors.

Diaval wore a new outfit that Maleficent made. It was similar to what he normally wore, but had gold detailing on the edges and cuffs of his sleeves. A gold stripe ran down his pant leg too. The whole outfit was a darker black than his old outfit. This one matched his hair more closely.

"Faerie Godmother? Faerie Godmother is that you?" Aurora questioned.

"Yes, I am here", she answered. "I would like you to meet someone."

He saw Maleficent nod to him and he flew down from the tree behind her and to the tree next to her.

"This is Diaval, my confidant and friend."

YES! Diaval thought to himself, she introduced me to Aurora as BOTH friend and confidant! With that he spread his wings and bowed his head.

"I know you!" Aurora exclaimed, "Hello pretty bird!"

"Oh, so you two have met then?" Maleficdent said.

Maleficent then waved her hand and a yellow whisp turned him into a man. This act frightened Aurora a bit and she jumped back. But after getting a good look at Diaval, her frightened face turned back into a smile.

"Hello, Aurora. I'm Diaval. I have known you since you were a little one."

Diaval walked forward took Aurora's hand and gave her a kiss on the hand.

"Oh, my...you _are_ a gentleman", she said blushing.

"Thank you, Aurora."

"Well, introductions asside, we have much to do tonight", Maleficent said.

Aurora got all excited and Diaval had a puzzled look on his face as he saw her light up. She turned around and skipped and hopped into the direction of the thorn wall.

"Where are we going, my mistress?"

"Why my home, of course!", Maleficent answered. "At the Rowan Tree".

Diaval looked a little shocked.

"You mean in the Moors?"

"Yes, Diaval, that is where the Rowan Tree is ", she answered sarcastically.

"But you never let anyone in there."

"Shoosh now. The first night we talked I brought her into the Moors to show her our world".

"Why?" He asked.

Maleficent's eyes narrowed and she said something she hadn't in a long time. "Rule number 2, Diaval".

"Yes, yes, my mistress, don't question your motives".

"That's a good birdy."

The three continued to walk back to the wall, Aurora was quite a distance in front. With a wave of her hand, Maleficent parted the thorn wall. Aurora couldn't wait to get into the Moors and as soon as the thorns cleared she darted right in.

The two followed behind her and the thorn wall closed in behind them.

Maleficent took Aurora to the Rowen Tree where she lived and showed her around the house. She showed her her bedroom and retracted the roof for her in much the same way that she had shown Diaval.

"You have such a beautiful home, Faerie Godmother!" Aurora exclaimed as she plopped herself down on Maleficent's bed. "I love it here!"

She rubbed her hands up and down the nice fur covers on Maleficent's bed. "Oh, I so want to sleep here. Can I sleep here? Pleeeeasse!"

"Not now, little beastie, but one day you will", Maleficent said.

Maleficent put her hand over her heart and smiled a bit. Diaval could tell that Aurora must have hit a soft spot there. All three sat down on Maleficent's bed and looked out onto the Moors. Maleficent continued to talk about the land and the places she loved to go to in the Moors. Both Diaval and Aurora listened in with curious ears.

After that first meeting with Aurora, Diaval accompanied his mistress many more times. For one thing it was certainly more interesting keeping and eye on her in the Moors then to be shacked out by the cottage.

All the while he noticed that Aurora really took an appreciation for the Moors and that made Maleficent very much interested in Aurora. On one warm night Maleficent lead everyone to the larger bog section of the Moors.

"I am going to show you the faeries that live by the bogs tonight, Aurora", Maleficent said. "You will get to meet the stone faeries and the wallerbogs. Robin will be joining us tonight as well and you will meet him."

"Oh, this is going to be a such a FUN night", Aurora exclaimed.

"My mistress, did you just say wallerbogs and Robin in the same sentence?" Diaval asked.

"Yes, I did."

"Well, then you know what that means, right?"

"Don't worry Diaval, I will keep my distance."

"Ok, so let me get this straight...you are purposely creating an open invitation to a mud fight?", Diaval whispered into Maleficent's ear so as not for Aurora to hear.

"Diaval, our purpose is to show Aurora the inhabitants of the Moors. She expressed an interest to me in regards to them and I am going to show her all she wants to know."

"Yes, but you DO know how this is going to end, right?"

"Oh! Stop your complaining, Diaval. Let the girl have some fun."

"Ok, my mistress, but it is going to get messy, AND I am in my best outfit again tonight."

Maleficent whipped around in front of Diaval, and eyed him up and down, taking note that his shirt was open from the neck halfway down his chest. She raised an eyebrow and agreed, "Yes, you certainly are."

"But let me fix one thing", she said and walked up to him and proceeded to unbutton his shirt the rest of the way down to his pants. She pulled his shirt open to show the scar he has all the way down his chest and abdomen.

"But this is the way I wear my other outfit", he said.

"Yes, I know."

Hmmm. Diaval thought to himself. She said 'dress your best for Aurora'. I don't think having my shirt buttoned down all the way would be considered 'best dressed'. But I guess she has her reasons and I am not one to question.

Soon they reached the bog and Maleficent introduced Aurora to the creatures that lived there. The stone faeries and the wallerbogs. The water faeries were also present. As she was explaining what the wallerbogs do, a red glow darted across the bog. That was all familiar to Diaval...it was Robin. He darted straight for Diaval and stopped within inches of his face. Diaval shifted his head to the side in fear that Robin would crash right into his face.

"Oh, boy.! Oh boy! We are going to have some fun tonight!" Robin exclaimed excitedly shaking his fists up and down. Then he flew off into the direction where Maleficent was explaining some of the plant life to Aurora.

"Hello Hello there my sweet young lass, you must be Aurora."

"Robin?" Aurora asked.

"Yes, indeed that is me!", he said happily and twirled in mid-air.

"Did my lady, here tell you what we are going to do tonight?"

"Yes, she has".

"Ok, then", Robin's voiced slowed and he kind of made like he was walking in mid flight, "I guess without further ado", he paused.

"MUD FIGHT!" He shouted.

Aurora looked shocked as this wasn't anything that her Faerie Godmother had mentioned at all, but she ended up rolling with it.

Almost immediately the water faeries dove into the bog and each grabbed a pile of mud and ALL hurled the mud at Robin. He didn't stand a chance. The poor faerie just was covered so bad in mud that fell right out of the sky and into the mud bog.

Maleficent said, "And now it starts." in a monotone voice.

"Ahhhh, they are just having a little fun", Diaval said. "You are the one always telling me to lighten up."

The two stood a good distance away from the ensuing chaos unfolding within the bog. Maleficent laid with her back against one tree and Diaval his back on the tree next to hers. Their feet were close together. Both sat with one raised knee and the arm on that side on their knee. Maleficent and Diaval were sitting as in a perfect mirror image of each other.

Maleficent reached into her pouch she brought along and pulled out a nice red apple and took a bite. Diaval noticed even in the dim light that his mistress' lips were more red than the apple. He watched her take a another bite. Then she noticed he was staring at her.

"Apple Diaval?"

Diaval snapped out of his stare, "Oh! Yes, my mistress."

She tossed him an apple and the two sat and looked on. By now they had Aurora join in and as with Robin, she was encased in mud.

Diaval started to giggle.

"Take that, and that and that! In your face!", Robin shouted has he beamed mudballs at the stone and water faeries.

Then out of the blue, a mudball grazed Robin's face, temporarily blinding him.

"Darn it! I can't see!" He tossed his mudball in the aparent direction from where the mudball hit him from.

Diaval's eye's widened when the mudball Robin tossed soared out of the bog and headed straight towards his mistress.

SPLAT! The mudball landed square on Maleficent's cheek. She turned her head and her jaw dropped.

All of a sudden, motion and laughter stopped and all eyes were on Maleficent. She clearly had a look of disgust on her face.

Diaval seeing Maleficent with her face blemished by the mudball and that expression on her face, he couldn't contain himself. He held his hand up to his mouth and started to chuckle. She darted an angry look back at him and that made him laugh even harder.

Her eyes narrowed and she had an evil smirk on her face. Then with a flick of her wrist a giant mudball rose out from the bog and slammed into Diaval. The sheer size of the mudball pushed him back into the tree. Everything except his legs were encased in mud.

All of sudden there was a roar of laughter amongst the group.

"Faerie Godmother, that was some shot! But poor Diaval!", Aurora said. She too was covered in mud with only some skin showing on her face. Her golden hair was loaded with clumps of mud. She ran over to Diaval's aid.

Everyone else was still laughing while Aurora was trying to scoop some of the mud off of Diaval.

"It's Ok, Aurora. I'll live." Diaval said.

"Take my hand, Diaval", she said.

Diaval reached out his hand. Aurora immediately grabbed it and pulled him straight into the bog with her. Now he was completely covered in mud sitting in the bog and everyone was laughing. He couldn't help but glanced over to his mistress of whom was also laughing.

"Your turn!" Diaval said as he grabbed Aurora and pulled her into the bog.

The 'splatter zone' increased considerably when all were frantically tossing mudballs at each other. Maleficent took a few steps further back than before to avoid getting hit. She looked on and smiled and laughed every now and then. Diaval always liked it when she smiled and had a good time. Tonight was much like the days when they go riding together.

Robin pulled Diaval aside, and said, "She used to never be like this. In the past she would join us. Since she lost her wings, she has been a complete stick in the mud. ...Oh, Ok, at least she IS laughing."

"Oh, I wouldn't say so. I mean look what she did to me. She made ME a stick in the mud."

Robin chuckled.

"Diaval!"

"Oh! her highness speaks. You better go before she turns you into a wallerbog next!"

"Yes, my mistress?"

"Would you be a dear and get some more apples for us."

"Sure."

Diaval got out of the bog and crouched down to the ground near his Mistress.

"Diaval, I said fetch some apples for us and not crouch down in front of me."

"Well, my mistress, you instructed me to be a deer. So I was waiting for you to turn me into one."

She looked on puzzled at first, but then all of a sudden just busted out laughing. Diaval didn't understand why.

"Diaval! That was a good one!" he heard Robin shout.

Diaval looked dumbfounded.

Aurora then spoke up, "Diaval, it was a play on words. When she said 'be a dear' as in D, E ,A ,R, she meant 'be nice' and not referred to the deer animal." she explained. "It is a popular human expression."

Maleficent stopped laughing for a moment and explained too. "I am sorry, it was a slip of my tongue, I usually don't use that expression around him. That is why he isn't familiar with it."

While Diaval had heard some expressions during his flights as a bird, he never gave them much thought. But this was one he had not heard of before. He stood back up and faced his mistress.

"I would like to get cleaned up first, if it is ok, my mistress" he asked Maleficent.

"Yes, of course." she replied and then waved her hand and he was completely clean.

"Thank You", he gave a little bow to her and then went off to a nearby apple tree to pick more apples."

As the night went on Aurora still continued to play in the mud with Robin and the other faeries. Maleficent and Diaval looked on while munching on apples. After a while an exhausted Robin plopped himself down next to Diaval, his wings so caked with mud that he couldn't fly.

"Ahhhhh, I'm exhausted, but THAT was fun!", he sighed. "My lady, if you may, I would like to be cleaned up too so I can fly home later."

"There you go, Robin", Maleficent said and like with Diaval, a wave of her hand and Robin was clean, glowing red once again.

Robin fluttered his wings as if to test to see if they were working properly and then he laid back down on the rock next to Diaval not having the urge to fly at the moment.

"What a night!" Robin said.

"Aurora, it is time to go" Maleficent shouted to her. "Let me clean you up too."

With the same flick of her wrist Aurora was clean too.

It was a great evening and as it came to a close everyone said their good nights. Aurora was growing tired herself and walked with Maleficent and Diaval very slowly to the wall. They managed to sneek her back into the bedroom of the cottage without waking the three faeries and then made way to their home in the thorn wall.

"I must say that certainly _was_ a fun night. It was also nice to see you participate too, even if it was at my expense." Diaval said to his mistress.

"You laughed at me, what was I to to", she sounded a little offended.

"I'm sorry my mistress, I didn't mean to offend you. I just couldn't help but laugh. At any rate the biggest laugh was on me."

"Yes, It was a fun night, Diaval."

"Diaval..." she said "Would you be a deer?" and she proceed to bust out laughing. "No, I think YOU had the best laugh of the night." she corrected him. "At least for me, anyway".

As they walked they bumped their hands together. Diaval had a sudden urge to want to hold her hand as they walked. No Diaval, No. Don't. I know your feelings have been getting very strong for her, but you can't imprint yourself on her. She will let you go and you will be alone. Don't do it! He fought his feelings and moved a couple steps to the side. But Maleficent closed the gap again. He place his hand in his pocket.

Back at the house. Diaval stood in the doorway of the bedroom while Maleficent was sitting on the bed. He asked, "Will that be all for tonight, my mistress".

At first she didn't answer and just gazed at the scar on his chest.

"Hummm?", she shook it off with a start. "I am, sorry, Diaval, I wasn't paying attention, what did you say again?"

"Will that be all for tonight, my mistress?"

"Yes, that will be all. Have a good night", she said softly and then waved her hand. He turned into a raven and then he flew off into the next room.

Maleficent thought to herself. Why did I want him to stay with me tonight? And why did I want to get the urge to run my finger down that scar. I don't understand. I shoudn't have these feelings. But it is like the way I feel about Aurora too. Here is the child I cursed and yet she shows so much of an interest in me and my land and all who live here. Perhaps there is more to her than I thought. I don't know, there are so many feelings and emotions flying around inside of me lately it is hard to sort everything out.

She undressed and got into her night gown. Then she unraveled her head dress. Her hair was messed up. She grabbed her brush and sat down on the edge of the bed. She started to comb out her knots first and then do full strokes from the top down. Her mind wandered a bit and she pulled her hair more taut and closed her eyes. Oh, why do I want him to comb my hair out for me now. It just feels better when he does it.

"Di..." she stopped as she was ready to call for him.

"No, don't do it" she said softly to herself. "You know it might happen again like that first time."

She put the brush down and slumped down on the bed, rubbing her hands up and down on the soft covers.

"Tonight _was_ a nice night", she whispered to herself.


	8. Chapter 8: Blood And Tears

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic - Chapter 9; Blood and Tears:

"What did you see tonight?" Maleficent asked when Diaval returned from a trip to the castle.

The two were sitting together by the table in their barrier house, discussing Diaval's last visit to the castle the night before.

"Well, it is hard to explain, my mistress"

"Do the best you can", she said stearnly.

"I was flying to the castle..."

He was interrupted, "Yes, I know, I sent you there", she said sarcastically.

"Right, Right. And from a window I saw the king and queen doing something odd. He had his queen pinned up against the wall and he was over her, like this." He postioned himself against the wall in the same manner he saw the king.

"Then he started to move like this", he undulated his body against the wall. "This motion appeared pleasurable to the queen as she..." He stopped as turned around.

"My mistress?" he noticed that Maleficent's face appeared to change from being stern to anger.

"Continue, Diaval", her voice deepened to a scowl.

"Oh, yes, so the queen was emitting all sorts of sounds that I cannot really describe, but she appeared to call out, 'Ohh, Ohh, Ohh.' "

Diaval could see the anger growing in his mistress. Her eyes stared out from across the table and she started to breath very heavy.

"Are you OK?", Diaval sounded concerned.

"Continue Diaval", she growled him.

Diaval was hesitant he could tell that Maleficent was becoming very angered by something.

Diaval continued, "He was rubbing his hands up and down her body. Then he grabbed her shoulders and all at once King Stefan let out a yell on his own and it seemed as if he pressed his waist into her body really hard. She yelled out really loud and then it was over."

His mistress was now curling up her lips showing her teeth. Her breathing was very audible and her nostrils flared. Then she began to clench and unclench her fists.

Diaval knew this look before, and he started to get a bit scared.

"A ..A ..Are you angry with me, my mistress?" He stuttered

"No, you did well", she complimented him, but her voice still sounded angry. "Stay here, I must leave and get some air. _DO NOT_ follow me. Am I _CLEAR_ on this?!"

"Absolutely, my mistress." He then added, "But may I go to the watering hole for a bath?"

"That you may."

She grabbed her staff and stormed out of the house. For the longest time, he stayed put, wondering why she all of a sudden turned angry right in front of him, but she seemed to be otherwise fine. Perhaps she just was taking a walk to let off some steam. Then he gathered up a towel, a change of clothes and some soap and walked towards the watering hole.

Robin, came flying as fast as his little wings could carry him. He was looking desperately for Diaval. A sigh of relief came to Robin has he found Diaval at the watering hole resting after his bath.

"Diaval! Diaval!" Robin shouted. The poor faerie was nearly out of breath from flying so hard.

"Robin, what's the matter?" Diaval could hear the weariness in Robin's voice. Robin was normally happy and jovial and very rarely had a care in the world. But today, his voice was anything but happy, he was frightened.

"Something is wrong with Maleficent. You must come quick!", Robin urged pulling at Diaval's shirt sleeve.

"What is wrong, is she hurt", Diaval's voice replied in a worried manner.

"No, I don't think so. She is just acting very strangely". Robin replied, "But I think she WILL hurt herself if she continues acting the way she is."

"Hurt herself? I hope this isn't one of your practical jokes, Robin." However, Diaval already knew this wasn't the case as Robin had a very frightened tone to his voice.

"No, No. I promise and you know a faerie doesn't break a promise".

"Yes, that I know all too well".

"Ok, Robin, let's go. There is no time to waste, you can fill me in in the way".

"Good! Good! Follow me." Robin urged as he took wing and began to dart off in a south east direction.

"Robin! I am in my human form and cannot keep pace on foot with you flying".

"Oh, right, right. Sorry!" Robin flew back to Diaval and crouched down on his left shoulder.

"Go that way towards the south bridge." Robing directed.

"Tell me everything"

"Ok. I was flying...oh, of course I was flying as I have wings".

"Robin", Diaval interrupted, "Just tell me what I need to know."

"Yes, Yes, I'm sorry. I am just in a tizzy to what I saw and I tried my best to get to you and..."

"Robin! Your babbling", Diaval interrupted.

"Sorry! I am just worried for Maleficent"

"Yes, I am too, but I need you to have a clear head and let me know what is going on."

"After the bridge turn left and go through the east forest", Robin directed.

Diaval gave Robin a blank look, his breathing became heaver as he wasn't used to running for any length of time. "There isn't much past the east forest except for the remnants of an abandoned village. What the heck is Maleficent doing there?"

"That's the thing" Robin said, "I saw Maleficent walking towards the village while I was out for a flight in the East Forest and I thought too that it was odd for her to be out that far east. But since she IS the Queen of the Moors, I didn't pay too much attention to why she was this far out. Yet, I followed her to that old cottage that is just outside the abandoned village and she went inside."

"That IS odd." Diaval agreed. His breathing labored as he tried to run faster jumping over fallen trees and logs in the woods. He remembered seeing the village in his own flights around the east village, but he really didn't know on foot how to get to the village.

"Turn here". Robin directed. "I perched myself by one of the windows and slowly looked in. Heck I even thought I might play a 'surprise' joke on her like I always do. But as you know, Maleficent hasn't been in the joking mood these years. In fact I really don't talk to her as much any more...ever since she lost her wings.

"Yes, I know", Diaval recalled.

"Robin, I have to catch my breath for a moment", Diaval slowed his running down to a jog as he still wanted keep pace to get to his mistress as soon as he could. "Dang this human body, if only I was in my original raven form I could fly and be with her already."

"Do you want me to scout ahead to check on her?"

"No, No...Let's stay together. I don't know the east woods on foot too well and the last thing I need right now is for us to get separated and I cannot find my way to the cottage. Continue with what you saw", Diaval urged.

"Alright, so I was looking through the largest windows on the front and I didn't see her inside. But then I flew around to one of the windows and I saw Maleficent sitting on a bed with her head hung low and her hands over her eyes. She was crying...and hard too!"

"Crying hard?" Diaval questioned as he stopped completely and stared at Robin. As he never knew Maleficent to cry, but he had seen her a couple of times near tears when she looked to birds taking flight to the sky. One time, he put on a flight show for Maleficent and while she watched at first, she then hung her head low. Seeing this, he too perch on a nearby tree branch, but her back was towards him. In a bit of a shaken voice she said, "That'll be all for today, Diaval, you may go". She continued to stare downward, but Diaval complied and flew off.

"Robin, I hope you didn't drag me out all this way just because you saw Maleficent crying in some cottage." Diaval pretended to be a bit cross with Robin, but he too was curious as to why Maleficent was crying. So with his breath somewhat returning, he was off to a brisk pace again.

"No, No Diaval, it DOES get worse." "Turn this way...we are not too far off now". Robin directed again. I saw her start to slam her fists down on the bed and she was becoming more and more angry. She started yelling out and screaming tearing at the sheets with her fingernails. She was pulling at her clothes so hard I could hear the fabric start to tear. She started to mutter something that I couldn't clearly make out. But then she abruptly got up and started to slam her her fists against the wall. She began to dig her fingernails into the walls and the paint peeled out from under them as she dragged them across the wall. As she was doing this she was sobbing really hard.

Then she turned her face partly to the window and that was when I noticed that the tears running down her face were _red_".

"_WHAT?!" _Diaval once again stopped in his tracks. "Do you mean she's bleeding from her eyes?"

"Yes!"

"I don't understand. What could be wrong with her?", Diaval said in a worried tone.

"Well, my friend, with some faeries, if they cry hard enough, the blood vessels in their tear ducts can rupture and blood mixes in with the tears." Robin explained. "It usually happens with those faeries that don't cry often and it is usually characteristic of female faeries. But once they DO sob intensely, it can happen".

"Is this a major concern?", Diaval asked

"No, not usually, but there was talk of at least one instance where a faerie did cry so long that she bled out and died! ...But that is just a rumor."

Sensing more urgency to the situation, Diaval began to run again. "Please, continue Robin".

"Then she started to take the chairs and tables in the room and started to toss them around."

Diaval once again stopped and responded in disbelief. "Tossed around furniture? Are you this is Maleficent we are talking about here?".

"Yes, Diaval, Do you know of another dark haired, curved horned, wingless faerie here on the Moors?" He said sarcastically. "Now, PLEASE run! Run, we are almost there." Robin's voice quivered and then he continued with what he saw. "Well, at this point she stopped crying, and she had this horrible look of anger in her face. Her face was all scrunched up and then she picked up one of the chairs and she kept pulling on the legs with all her might. She was making groaning and grunting sounds. If I didn't know any better, it would seem like she was trying to 'kill' the chair with her bare hands. Then I could hear the wood groaning and splintering and eventually she snapped the chair legs off. She looked up at the window and I gasped at the thought of her seeing me watching her, but thankfully she didn't. But she tossed the chair leg through the window smashing it. At this point I knew there was something wrong with her and was thinking the worst in that she might hurt herself. Thus I proceeded to find you. That is all I know".

Diaval looked at Robin with a shocked look on his face. He knew of Maleficent's temper but he never knew her to get THIS angry to the point of rage. Worse, apparently it was causing her severe distress. Yes, sometimes she was cross, even with him, but she always was very eloquent and poised for the most part. Yes, he has seen her anger show through on occasion, but what Robin was explaining was certainly a first. Given the look on his face and the tone of his voice, Diaval was uncertain as what to expect. But he knew there WAS something wrong with his mistress and he wanted to come to her need more than ever. This want was more than a want, but a need. Over the years Diaval had become closer to Maleficent and some of the deeds he had done for her were out of caring for her rather than a simple order. Many times he even done things for her without her even asking. But he wasn't sure if the feelings were reciprocated as Maleficent usually spoke to him in a monotonous cool manner. She suppressed her emotions as much as she could. She didn't want anyone to see what she was thinking or what was in her heart.

"Turn here, we should be able to see the cottage now", Robin said.

As they neared the cottage, they could hear something being smashed inside. Robin jumped off Diaval's shoulder and took to wing and dove into a nearby bush. "Uuuuh, I am going stay in this bush here". Robin was wringing his hands together a very worried manner.

"What..you are not coming?"

"No" Robin swallowed very hard. "I'm worried for Maleficent, but also very scared. I am not going any further. Honestly, Diaval, I think she's flipped her lid!

"Well, thanks then", Diaval replied sarcastically "I guess I'll do this alone then".

"Please be careful."

Diaval approached the cottage very carefully. Most of the windows were smashed and there were wooden bits and pieces littered about outside. The pieces were remains of tables, chairs, vases, glasses, cups and plates.

After the one crash that scared Robin, everything became quiet. Diaval thought it was safe to continue on. He approached the side window that was next to the front door very carefully. He peered into the window carefully. The inside of the house looked like something explosive was detonated in there. There were pieces of furniture all over the place, smashed cabinets with doors hanging off their hinges lined the walls. There kneeling on the floor with her body bent over and her head in her hands was his mistress, Maleficent. Robin was true to his word that she was crying.

Diaval didn't know what to make of the scene, but one thing was certain was that Maleficent was hurt, her hands and arms were all cut up and she was bleeding. She proceeded to look up towards the ceiling, her face had a look of anguish on it and it appeared that blood flowed from her eyes as tears just as Robin explained. Her robes were stained red. Her hair was a complete mess, all tangled. She then let out a guttural yell and she began to shout through her tears.

"It should be me! Not her...ME! I wanted to be with one with you! Look what you have done to me you bastard! You should have killed me and not left me like this!" Maleficent cried out. Her voice sounded very gravely and rough.

She then got up, Diaval saw her forearms were all cut up and her sleeves were all torn. Blood was dripping from her fingernails as she turned around with her back towards him and stormed off into the other room. The door to the back room was partially off it's hinges. She grabbed the door and flung it the rest of the way off it's hinges. This action surprised Diaval to the point where he jumped and his heart was in his throat. He hoped his sudden reaction didn't get him noticed.

He slowly peered back in the window to see Maleficent throw herself on the bed and he could hear her sobbing heavily. Her body was shaking through her sobs.

Diaval didn't understand what he was hearing or seeing, but one thing is for certain, she seemed extremely angry and he didn't know how to approach the situation. In the past approaching Maleficent while she was angry was always a bad thing to do. But clearly she was bleeding and he feared that he needed to find out what was wrong with her, he feared she would bleed to death. But the thing was, why wasn't she healing herself? He didn't understand as he seen her do it many times before. Why not now? Perhaps she couldn't use her magic. Maybe that is what was wrong. Well, he HAD to find out. Part of being his mistress' servant was to make sure she is safe from harm. If there was a time she needed help it was now. So Diaval gathered up his strength and proceeded to put his hand on front door. It was already partly open, he pushed it ever so slightly as to not make a sound. The door squeaked a bit as he looked in. He clenched his eyes closed, but apparently she didn't hear it over her own tears. He pushed a bit further until finally the door was open just far enough for him to slip inside. The main room of the house looked even worse than from the window. Some of the floor boards were torn up and nothing was recognizable from the furniture. Everything was a splintered mess of broken wood, smashed pottery and glass. The walls were gouged with jagged traces of 5 semi-uniform scratches most likely from her sharp fingernails digging into them. Then a thought came to him. He said to himself, "I think she did this all with her bare hands, but it can't be, moreover, why? It would have taken a couple men of at least twice his own strength to do the damage he was witnessing. Even though Maleficent was the same height as he (not counting her horns). She is a much smaller in build than he, she just _had_ to have used her magic. But then again, she is all cut up and not healing herself. I just don't understand".

He could see her lying on the bed in the other room, sheets stained with blood. Her hand was hanging over the side, dripping blood on to the floor.

His heart was beating heavy as he too was scared and didn't know what to expect. What if Robin was right and for some reason Maleficent had gone mad. But why? But since it was his duty to look after and protect his mistress in time of need, he had to move forward. He swallowed hard a few times and then walked into the room further.

"My Mistress? Are you ok?", he stupidly asked. "I came at once when Robin said that you were..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Maleficent shot up in one smooth move from the bed and she stood in the door frame. Now Diaval finally got a good look of her current state. Her eyes, red from her tears, stared him down deeply, her head was hanging low, her mouth partly open. Several red tear tracks ran down from both her eyes. At that moment a single red tear ran from her right eye and down the side of her nose. Blood tracks ran each side of her chin and proceeded down her neck. Her disheveled locks were hanging half down the front left side of her body and the other half down her back as she normally kept it. The entire upper part of her gown was all stained with blood, with red spots littering the lower portion of her gown. The sleeves of her gown were torn all the way up to her shoulders. Blood was running down her bare forearms and dripping from her fingertips.

"_YOU!" _she exclaimed in a deep gravely voice, horse from all her screaming and yelling earlier.

The displeasure and anger in her voice was clear and apparent. At this point Diaval knew he made a mistake in being in the same room with her at that moment.

He said, voice shaking, "I am sorry, my mistress, I see I have disturbed you"

He was reminded of another time in which he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and his mistress was displeased with him finding her, but that seemed to be nothing in comparison to the look on her face now. That look told him to do one thing and that was to run away. He started for the door but immediately tripped on one of the broken floorboards, but he only stumbled a bit. Regaining his footing his hand fumbled for the doorknob. But she was on him fast. From the corner of his left eye, a bloodied fist whizzed past his shoulder and slammed into the door closing it tight. But in shocking disbelief at what he was seeing, he saw her fist continue on almost in slow motion splintering the wood and going right through the door panel. He turned to his right side only to be blocked another bloodied fist whizzing past his face, this time slightly catching his shoulder and like before he could hear the splintering wood as her fist went through the door panel on the other side of him. Even though he was scared, he was completely astounded by her strength. Was it magic? Was she really that strong? But one thing was for certain, he feared those strong arms and hands were going to tear him apart next.

He could barely turn around with his neck right between her forearms. Doing so his shoulders rubbed against the door and her body. Since she was the same height as he, their faces were level and her eyes were a mere 8 inches from his. Their noses almost touching. Her head was tipped a bit downward and her yellow/green eyes stared straight in his ebony eyes. The look she gave him went right through him. She didn't blink even once. At this moment he knew he was going to to die. But she just stood there staring at him with her arms right through the door. Her breathing was very heavy with anger. He could see blood was dripping from her elbows.

In a voice very deep gravely voice she said, "What _am_ I going to do with you?"

Even in her current state with blood tracks running down from her eyes and her arms tracked with blood around his neck, she still looked very attractive to him. Since he knew he was going to die, he didn't know why, but wanted to touch her just once more. He reached his arms up and cupped his hands on her upper arms. Her arms were not large, but they were nicely toned and certainly felt good in his hands. As he ran his hands slowly up to her shoulders. He closed his eyes and said, "Please, my mistress, make my death quick, please do not let me suffer".

She raised her head slightly and she finally began to blink. But she still breathed heavy and stood there looking deep into his eyes.

Finally with her voice returning to it's normal cool tone, she said, "Don't be daft. I am not going to kill you, but I am very angry that you just barged in on me like this, especially when I told you not to follow me." "There will be punishment. But for now, I don't know what to do."

Breathing a sigh of relief and from the sound in her voice, it didn't sound like she went crazy as Robin thought. But something angered her to the point where she lost all control of her emotions.

"Yes, my mistress, I understand and thank you for allowing me to live."

"I guess you think your Maleficent has gone mad, huh?" She asked.

"With all respect, my mistress, the thought had crossed my mind."

"No, I'm OK. I just was a bit angry."

"A _bit_ angry?", he looked past her at the condition of the room they were in.

A little smirk appeared on her face and she bowed her head down and her forehead touched his. He started to rub her arms and her smirk turned into a small smile. He was very surprised that she was letting him touch her. But soon the good moment was gone. At that point, her knees began to buckle and her breathing became labored.

"My mistress, you have lost quite a bit of blood. Have you lost your magic? We need to get you help".

"No. No. I am fine. I still have my magic, but you are right, I do need healing now", her voice was much calmer now. She finally withdrew her arms from the door. Diaval ran his hands down her arms in a caressing manner as she lowered hers, as his hands ran down her forearms he could feel pieces of glass stuck within her arms.

Apparently this little gesture with her arms, she liked, as it calmed her down. She also cracked a small smile just after Diaval removed his hands from her arms.

She turned towards the bedroom and she staggered a bit and then her knees began to give out again.

"Diaval, please help me to the bedroom."

"Absolutely, my mistress". Diaval bent down and took her right arm and place it around his neck. He couldn't help but notice that on her hand, a couple of her fingers dangled peculiarly. She apparently broke them slamming her fist through the door. All the while he was thinking, "What has caused her to go into a fit of a rage that she practically destroyed the house AND nearly herself in the process. At this time he dared not ask and just wanted to see her all healed up.

"Ok, up now", he said.

Once up he put his arm around her waist and they proceeded into the bedroom.

She sat on the bed and looked up at him. "Thank you. Alone now, my pet. I'll be OK."

"Yes, my mistress", Diaval said as he started for the door. He was thinking that she is awfully polite now considering the fit of rage she was in moments ago.

"Oh, Diaval?", her voice almost was singing now.

"Yes?" "When I am done, I will need to get cleaned up. Please get some water, soap, and a change of clothes from back home. There are some blankets already here. Unfortunately it looks like we might be spending the night here."

"Yes, my mistress"

"Be a good birdy, and please just prop the door back up on the frame", she asked.

Wow! She WAS being very polite. Diaval, promptly picked up the door blade that Maleficent threw halfway across the room earlier and placed it back into the door opening. He carefully made his way through the living room space trying to avoid the broken floorboards.

He examined the holes in the door. The look on his face was both in astonishment and admiration. "Whew! That's one _strong_ woman."

After exiting the house, Diaval felt a thump on his side. Robin flew straight into him.

"Whoa! Put on the brakes there little buddy", Diaval said.

"GREAT! He said...you are still alive!" His voice sounded very ecstatic. Robin noticed the blood stains on Diaval's shoulders from where Maleficent had her arms. "What happened to your shoulders".

"Not me. Maleficent had her arms on my shoulders and her forearms were cut up very badly when she broke the glass and she was bleeding on me".

"Soooo, she was hugging you around your neck while she was hurt?"

"No No, Robin. See those holes in the door? She made those with her fists. She had me pinned to the door with her arms resting on my shoulders."

"Oh! So why did she punch right through the door?

Diaval continued to explain the events that happened thereafter as the two slowly started back to Maleficent's and Diaval's home. Diaval finished by saying, "I have to go back to the Rowan Tree and get some supplies to help Maleficent get cleaned up. I need you to lead me back to the bridge and then back here. It will be dark soon and I don't want to be out in the woods at night. Maleficent needs me tonight and I want to get back to her has soon as possible.

"Sure thing, Diaval."

Soon he was back at home gathering the necessary supplies that Maleficent requested. He put everything into a backpack that Maleficent made for him so he could easily carry items without tying up his hands. He met up with Robin at the bridge and once again, Diaval broke into a jog to pick up the pace. The sun was starting to set and Diaval wanted to make it the cabin before it became dark.

"Robin, we need to find a source of water. Would you know if that abandoned town has a working well?"

"Yes, certainly. I sometimes would fly in it for a quick drink, it's water is good and clean.

"Good Good". Diaval packed two large water bladders in to the nap sack

After they got to the abandoned town, Diaval filled two large water bladders with water from the well. "This should be enough", he said "I hope it will be enough as this is all I can carry." He trudged back to the house in the woods. Every step was in labor as Diaval was not used to carrying so much weight. He began to sweat. It was almost dark and once they reached the woods, Robin had to light the way for them using his magic. He gave off a red glow.

Soon they reached the cottage and Diaval was completely out of breath.

"Thank you very much, Robin, you have been a big help today."

"You're welcome Diaval. I am off now as I am getting sleepy." Robin said, "Have a good night and don't do anything I wouldn't do. Or for that matter, don't do anything I _WOULD_ do. Hubba Hubba."

Robin was always hinting that Maleficent and Diaval should 'hook up' and become mates. Diaval always thought this would be impossible considering that Maleficent doesn't believe in true love.

"Oh, Diaval?"

"Yes"

"Please, do let me know what happened tomorrow, I so want to know what caused Maleficent to act so strangely.".

"I think it was anger, Robin. She just was so intensely angry, but why I don't know. Perhaps if she is feeling better tomorrow morning I will ask her. I certainly will let you know as soon as we are back home".

"Goodnight then, Diaval"

"Goodnight Robin"

Robin turned to fly off but then quickly turned around and said, "Oh, another thing, IF something DOES happen between you and Maleficent...please DO tell me too!" He made a smooching sound with his lips.

"Robin! Enough! Nothing's going to happen. I am just her servant, nothing more".

"That's what they all say, heh heh heh heh", he laughed as he flew off."

Without Robin to light the night around them it was becoming very difficult to see out. Diaval made his way to the front door. As he did so, he once again looked at the holes in the door and was still impressed by what Maleficent had done with the door. He went inside. The cottage was very dark inside and Diaval barely could make out the broken floorboards. The door banged against the wall as Diaval placed the water bladders on the floor.

"Diaval...is that you?" Diaval heard Maleficent call from the back bedroom.

"It is, my mistress. I have returned with everything you asked for and some water."

"Very good. Good birdy. Please come in here. I would like to get cleaned up and get out of these clothes". Her voice was still very soft and pleasant as it was when he left.

"My mistress, can I trouble you with with some light it is getting difficult to see in here and the place is royally trashed."

A ball of light flew out from the bedroom and attached it self to the roof of the main room. The ball filled the room with light. Much to his amazement, all of the broken floorboards and broken glass was cleared from the room. It also appeared that the door to back bedroom was back on it's hinges and was partly open.

"I cleaned up while you were gone so you wouldn't get hurt on the mess I made earlier".

"Thank you, my mistress, that was very kind of you."

"Oh, hush now and come in."

Diaval brought the bladders into the bedroom and took off his backpack. The light ball followed him in.

Maleficent was lying on the bed with her back leaning against the wall behind the bed. The headboard was torn off the bed and part of it was laying in the corner. The bed sheets and mattress had large holes cut into it as if done by knives. Both had many blood stains on them. Diaval looked at her closely to see her current condition. All her wounds on her arms were healed and she was flexing her fingers and it appeared her fingers were also fixed. But she was still covered from head to toe in blood stains, more on her upper body than lower. Her breathing seemed a bit labored and from the look on her face, she appeared exhausted.

"Did you bring the candles?" she asked.

"Yes, I did"

"Please light them as I don't want to keep maintaining the light ball. I am in a weakened state and my magic is very low as it is. I need some rest. We are going to stay here tonight"

"I understand, my mistress" He replied as he lit the candles. With a wave of her hand, Maleficent doused the light ball. Diaval placed the candles on a bureau in the room which appeared to be the only remaining piece of furniture, left somewhat intact. Good thing too as he needed a place to set up the water basins. He set up two basins one for soap water and another for rinsing down. He placed some towels next to the basins along with Maleficent's favorite hair brush. He hung a fresh gown over the broken part of the headboard and he turned to his mistress and said, "All ready for your bath". He then promptly walked towards the door to give her some privacy.

"Diaval, I am feeling faint and I will need assistance in bathing", she spoke slowly in a weary sounding voice.

"Yes, of course, my mistress." his face lit up a bit. He wondered if this would be a treat like combing her hair.

He brought a sponge, towel and basin over to the bed and sat by her right side.

"Please do my face first. As I must look like some deranged demon to you"

"No, my mistress, you look fine to me."

She smiled a bit. "Oh shoosh!"

He grabbed a small sponge and put a little soap on it. His hands started to shake as he drew nearer to her face.

"I think it is best if you close your eyes, otherwise the soap might get in them and sting", he said.

She nodded in agreement and then closed her eyes.

He started right at the top where her hairline stopped and her forehead started. He came down the sides of her face, and then very carefully started to circle her eyes.

Maleficent arched her neck back and her horns hit the wall behind her with a thud.

"Oh! Guess I can't tilt my head that far back."

"Here my mistress, put this under your back and lay down"

Diaval balled up the backpack he brought with him and used it to prop up his mistress' neck.

"Yes, that is better", she said.

Diaval then contined cleaning the blood tracks that ran down her eyes being extra careful and gentle as he didn't want any soap to get in her eyes.

He saw her eyelids were stained red as well, but the sponge was much too large of an area to enter such a delicate spot. So he dipped his fingers in the soap water and then gently rubbed his fingers across her eye lids.

"Hmmmmmm, she let out a smal moan."

At first he was about to pull away, but she didn't say anything else.

He could feel her eyes underneath moving under her eyelids. It was a very unusual feeling, but yet also felt good. He did linger a bit long, but she still didnt' say anything. But he did notice her breathing get a bit deeper. She then raised her eyebrows almost as if for him to get better access around her eyes.

Then he took his finger dipped it in the soapy water and rubbed across her other eye. He could feel her eye move again. Her breathing became heavier still. He leaned over and took a dry towel and carefully dried around her eyes.

"You can open you eyes now, my mistress, I am done with them", he said.

"Thank you, my pet, but I prefer to keep them closed. Continue", she replied.

He then took the sponge back up and started to clean around her cheeks and nose. He carefully traced around her ruby lips when she all of a sudden giggled.

"That tickles," she said with a smile on her face. Her eyes stayed closed.

"Sorry, my mistress", he apologized. "But it looks like now _you_ are the ticklish one."

Maleficent kept her eyes closed though the whole thing. "Oh, my word! The way he cleaned my eyelids, that felt so wonderful. I should make him stop, but I don't want him to stop. Ok, Ok, Mal...live in the moment but don't get _too_ carried away.

Maleficent could feel Diaval had returned to using the sponge and was cleaning under her chin. She arched her neck back. She could feel a tingle as the sponge slowly ran down the sides of her neck. She could feel her face start to tense up a little and she hoped Diaval wouldn't noticed. But when he did the front part of her neck and the sponge reached the divot where her collarbones met, she felt a tingle of pleasure run through her and her body noticably twitched.

"Are you OK, my mistress?" he asked. "Did I hit something by accident?"

"No, you are fine." her voice almost sang out. "Continue."

Diaval continued on the other side of her neck. He couldn't help but study the even undulations under her skin that formed her wind pipe. There were slight indentations on either side. Diaval's eyes followed her windpipe down until it disappeared into her chest. There was an indentation right where her windpipe met with her collarbones. She swalled hard and this area moved up and down. He rubbed the sponge in this area gently. Maleficent arched her neck back as far as it could go, the back of her horns started to dig into the sheets. She swallowed a couple more times very hard.

"That is as far as I can go here, my mistress." He said.

"You can do my arms next, they are a total mess."

"Yes, my mistress."

Diaval dipped the sponge in the soapy water. He took his mistress' hand in his and she held it. He started with her right forearm first. The blood was starting to cake up on her arms. He slowly but gently started to rub her arms down.

Maleficent closed her eyes. She had a little smile on her face. Every now and then she would open them and look at Diaval. He rotated her wrist around to the underside of her forearms and rubbed the sponge gently up and down. He repeated sponging her forearm until it was clean.

He noticed that she now had a scar on her arm in the area where he noticed a piece of glass was lodged in her arm before. It wasn't a bad scar, but it looked to be something that was permanent. But he wasn't sure.

He moved higher up to her upper arm rubbing the soap sponge up her outer arm. He noticed that her breathing started to get heaver. While her arm was cleaning up, he couldn't help but take a good look at the shape and contours of her arm. Her arms were very dainty but did have nice definition. Her fingers were very long and thin and her hands in general seemed very delicate. He found it hard to believe that these dainty fingers and hands could form a fist with such power that she could splinter wood. He admired at how such power and such beauty were combined in the woman laying before him.

Her wrists were also very dainty. His eyes followed from there to her forearms which tapered up to her elbow. Thin and uniform from her wrist at first, but then half way up quickly tapering out. She had a few good sized veins running up and down her forearm. He had the thought of running his finger up and down the largest of them just to find out what it felt like under his finger, but he quickly shook the thought off.

Where the inside of her elbow was, there was an indentation before curving slightly up the lower part of her bicep. Her forearms slightly rounded her elbow. As he rubbed up the sponge to her upper arm, he could feel the shape of her muscles underneath. Every now and then her arm would twitch as he rubbed over a sensitive area and he could see the muscles moving under her skin. He sponged up the inside of her arm and again he felt another twitch. She began to breath even deeper.

Moving up to her shoulders there was another slight indentation from outside of her arms as her shoulders then came out and rounded up to her collarbone. Her collarbones were very pronounced and below them there was a deep indentation where her shoulder came around and conneted to the top part of her chest. When she moved her arms up there were two little defining lines that would show up towards the front of her shoulder. Diaval again wanted to run his fingers along those small lines. As he started to clean her shoulder, he strategically placed his thumb just outside the sponge and let it run across that area. Maleficent arched her shoulders forward and her face scrunched up but she didn't open her eyes.

"Whoa!" Diaval said to himself, "That was close, almost got caught doing that".

Diaval kept looking up and down her arm as he was cleaning. He thought to himself, "She certainly has beautiful arms." He had a sudden urge to drop the sponge and just run his fingers up and down her arm and hold her by the shoulders. But he just stopped and shook it out of his system, knowing all to well the consequences of what would happen had he done that. However, he still had to clean up her other arm.

He moved to the other side of the bed and then proceeded to clean her left arm. Again he lifted her hand, but she gave his hand a gentle little squeeze back . With the thoughts running around in his head, Diaval slowed his pace and lingered while cleaning her left arm. He gently passed the indentation on her elbow very slowly and ran the sponge up the inside of her arm. She twitched a little and let out a small sigh. Her face winced a bit and Diaval noticed this.

"My mistress, are you ok? You have a funny look on your face."

"Yes, Diaval, I am fine", she said. "It's just a little pain twitch. Please continue."

He resumed cleaning up and down her arm. He then started sponging the outside of her arm. He kept watching her chest rise and fall as she was breathing very deeply. The candlelight was reflecting of her chest. Now all of a sudden her chest started to look good to him the way it rose and fell in perfect time to her breathing.

Maleficent had her eyes closed and her mind wandered. "Oh, does that feel good! First my hair and now this. It is like when he does this, it is like an art. Why is he so good? Why do I have these feelings? Oh, I so want him to bathe me more often. No! No! Stop it Mal, don't give in to these feelings.

Just. Just. Don't make a sound. Why am I breathing so heavy? I don't know, it must be the loss of blood and I am tired."

Diaval raised her arm up a bit higher and then ran the sponge right straight up her arm and into her armpit. All of a sudden a pleasurable feeling shot straight through her body.

"Uuuuuuhhhh!", she moaned, the sound a little too loud. She then quickly recoiled, pulling her arm out from Diaval's hand. Again she had that scared look on her face.

"What's wrong, my mistress?"

"Nothing! Just nothing. I must have started to dozed off ", she said with her voice quavering.

He was finished with her arms and she took a good look.

"Nicely done, my pet", she said in a soft voice. He did do a good job.

A sudden a feeling of content came over Maleficent and she looked around the damaged room.

She felt now it was the time to finally tell him. Tell him everything.

"Do you want to clean my back next?" she asked.

Diaval thought he was hearing things. Confusion came over him as he figured this would be the last place where he would ever be allowed to look upon his mistress' body, not that he was in a position to look at any part of her body for too long.

"I'm sorry, my mistress, but did I hear you wanted me to clean your back?"

"Yes, you heard right", she said very low and soft. Her voice almost had a caressing sound on his ears.

"Please turn around and don't look."

"Yes, my mistress."

Diaval positioned himself at the end of the bed and looked at the doorway. He could feel his mistress shuffling around on the bed and he could hear the movement of fabric. Then came the sound of tearing fabric.

"It's OK, Diaval, still don't look."

He heard some more tearing and felt some more moving around.

"Ok, you may look now", she said.

Diaval turned around and was nearly shocked by what he was seeing. Right in back of him his mistress was sitting looking towards the window. Her whole upper body was bare down to her waist. with the exception of a small piece of fabric that ran around her body and kept her breasts covered. Her back was exposed to him and her beautiful long raven hair ran straight down the length of her back. His eyes followed down from her neck, around her shoulders and her body tapered down getting narrower until it met up with her waist line.

He couldn't help but stare. He could feel his heart almost pounding out of his chest. She turned to look at him, putting her left arm across her front and and leaned on her other arm while turning slightly towards him.

Diaval could feel it within himself. Something was happening. There was that feeling in between his legs again. He could feel himself getting larger.

Then her voice broke the feeling that was surging through his body.

" I owe you an explanation", she said. "You have been a faithful servant and confidant to me for over 16 years. It is now time that you understand why I am the way I am. I always told you that I will explain everything to you in due time and now that time has come. Please do not interrupt me or I feel I may not have the strength to get through this."

Diaval didn't say a word. He kind of knew what she was going to say.

She pulled her hair across her right shoulder to reveal the stumps on her back. This made Diaval's heard pound even more. He was now just a couple of feet away from the pair of stumps that protruded from his mistress' back.

"I am a broken woman, Diaval", she said in a saddened voice.

"I once had a beautiful set of large raven black wings. So large they dragged on the ground behind me when I walked. They were powerful and strong. They made me feel strong. They carried me where I wanted to go. I floated on updrafts. I flew low over the water letting my fingers touch the surface. I flew fast...so fast. Faster than anything that moved."

"All of that was taken away from me. I was betrayed and mutilated, my wings stolen from me. Grounded, I feel weak, and incomplete."

Diaval's eyes widened as he couldn't believe what he was hearing he just had to interrupt.

"Stolen! But who or why on earth would somebody do this to you?"

"Please, Diaval, don't interrupt", she said with still a saddened voice. "This is hard enough for me as it is."

"I am sorry, my mistress, please continue", Diaval apologized.

"I also was in love once...or what I thought to be love." she corrected herself. "I met a human boy when I was just a young girl and we grew fond of each other and this fondness blossomed into a romance and then, what I thought to be love. I thought perhaps that through our love we could be together forever and unite our kingdoms. Thus fulfilling my parents dream of peace between our world and the human world, and I... well, my dream for happiness would have come true."

"But as the years went on, I could tell he had other interests besides me. He longed to live in the castle and I started to see less and less of him. His staying away was breaking my heart."

"One night after a month of not seeing me, he came to me nearly in tears saying how horrible his life was at the castle and that he wanted to live with me here for all time. He gave me a kiss I would never forget, he said it was "True Love's Kiss."

"We fell asleep in each other's arms and I drifted off with sweet dreams knowing that I finally did have my happiness." She then paused.

Diaval could see her eyes start to mist over.

"The next morning I woke up and not only was he gone, but my wings were gone. My heart was broken and my life ruined. My chance for happiness gone. That is why there is no such thing as true love."

"The human boy was Stefan."

Diaval's heart sank and he could feel tears form in his eyes.

"Somehow," she continued. "The loss of my wings and his assension to the throne are connected and that is all I know. Robin warned me about Stefan and I pushed his friendship and trust aside. I didn't listen to him and he was right about humans. They are not to be trusted."

Diaval couldn't say anything, but for some reason he reached his hand out to her and wanted to place it on her back. But he looked to her as if asking permission first.

"Go ahead...you may touch them", she said.

This was something really unexpected as he would never think that his mistress would every let him near her back, let alone offering him to touch the spot that has caused her pain for so many years.

He closed his eyes and put his hand first over the left stump. The edge was course and rough and he could feel the place where the bone was cut through. His other hand was covering his mouth. Tears started to fall from his eyes. He tried to open his mouth, but nothing came out as his hand moved over to her other stump and he could feel a similar spot where the bone was cut through. Her stumps had small raven feathers around them and in between them. The feathers were very similar to his own. He could only imagine what her wings could have looked like. He ran his hand right between them not knowing this was a sensitive spot. Her stumps moved towards each other. He recoiled in shock.

"Oooo!" Maleficent twitched. "Sorry, Diaval. I didn't mean to startle you, but that spot is a bit sensitive."

"My mistress, I am so sorry. I'm..."

Diaval suddenly felt a feeling surge from within his gut. It was a wrenching feeling. He looked again at the stumps on his mistress' back and then he looked at her saddened face looking over her shoulder at him. A single tear ran down from each of her eyes. Seeing this, the feeling in his gut became stronger.

"I think I am going to be sick, my mistress", he said. "Please, excuse me."

He shot up from the bed, opened up the bedroom door and ran out the front door and to the left behind a large bush. Then he could feel his gut squeeze hard. The last meal he had eaten raced up his esophagus and up out his mouth. The feeling was horrible. It happened two more times before the feeling finally subsided. He wiped his mouth off on a leaf.

As he headed back towards the cottage, he was trying to comprehend all the feelings and emotions that were running through him.

So that is why she was so bent on taking revenge on King Stefan. He was the one that took her wings _and_ her heart. Now it all starts to make sense.

He walked in the front door and slowly towards the bedroom. His mistress still was sitting there with her bare back to him. But she had her head in her hands and was sobbing. She looked back up to him and continued explaining through her tears.

"When you told me about the Stefan and the queen were mating. I just kept thinking why? That was my happiness. That could have been me. Aurora could have been our daughter. But he tossed me aside...I was nothing. I started to dwell on these feelings and this built up into fury within me and I just had to release it. It was bottled up inside me for so long. I came out here and saw this cottage, it's something that man made and I just wanted to rip this place apart with my bare hands."

She started to cry harder "I HATE him! I HATE his guts. I HATE his kind!" She turned back around and held her head low, her shoulders arch forward as she sobbed between breaths.

"Please, my mistress, calm down, you are under enough stress as it is."

Diaval' could feel his heart breaking he said, "You have every right to be angry and disgusted. I understand what you are feeling. Thank you for telling me and I will keep this all with me and will not tell anyone. I will help you in anyway I can, whatever you want. Always."

"Thank you, Diaval", she said with tears in her eyes.

Tears started to well up in his eyes too. He climbed into the bed behind her and put a leg on each side of her. He stared at her back for a while looking down at the spot where her wings were. He moved in closer to her back and then place his hands on her shoulders. He began to rub them. His hands ran slowly down her arms.

Her crying started to subside a bit and she sniffed through her tears.

He placed his head on her back right between her shoulder blades at the base of her neck.

He then place his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him until her back and chest met. She reached back and held the arms that were wrapped around her waist.

After a few moments she turned around and sat on top of his legs and looked straight in his eyes with her face so soft. He had never seen such a saddened look on her face before. But he couldn't stop looking at those eyes.

"Hold me, please", she cried.

"Oh, Maleficent. I...I... Yes."

She threw her arms around his neck and he around her back. His hands holding the place on her back where her wings once were. They held each other tightly and neither wanted to let go.

"Don't let go, my pet."

"I won't. I'll be here, always."


	9. Chapter 9: Bed Monsters

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 9: Bed Monsters

Neither knew how long time passed, but they held themselves in an embrace for what seemed like minutes but in actuality were hours. The room suddenly got a bit darker and Diaval raised his head up and looked at the bureau and sure enough one of the candles burned itself out. Maleficent's head was resting on his shoulder, her eyes were closed and she was breathing heavy. She appeared to have gone to sleep. He gently held her head and slowly laid her down on the bed.

"Hummmmm", she let out a soft sigh.

He looked at her up and down. She was still half dressed in her blood stained outfit. The basins were still with water, the one with soap still on the bed. The sponge was laying by the foot of the bed.

"I didn't even finish bathing her." He thought to himself. "I don't even know why all of a sudden she wanted me to hold her. But, I couldn't say no. I didn't _want_ to say no. I really _wanted_ to hold her, especially with what she all told me."

He looked at her face, which looked so serene. "Oh, the poor woman...her wings brutally severed from her body." He reached over and ran his fingers over her cheek. She looked beautiful laying on the bed. His eyes ran down her neck and then he followed her lines down her shoulders.

Her collarbones were very pronounced but were thin and dainty. He followed their curvature across to the middle of her chest. He looked at her makeshift bustiere and followed how her body narrowed to her abdomen which was nice and flat. Two faint lines on either side seemed to frame out the center part of her abdomen. This part of her expanded and contracted as she continued to breath heavy in her sleep.

He reached over and put his hand on her stomach. It felt good under his hand as he could feel her breathing.

Her right arm then turned over exposing the inside of her forearm. Again Diaval took note of the veins on her arm and he picked the largest of them and slowly ran his finger down the length of the vein until it it disappeared beneath her skin. It felt good under his finger.

"Uhhhhmmmmm", she let out another sigh.

All of a sudden, he got that feeling again between his legs. It was a tingle at first, but as he continued to run his hands up and down his mistress' arm, the feeling grew. The more he looked at her nearly bare body the more the feeling intensified. He could feel himself unfold and start to become larger.

What the heck is that now? I know I have felt this before but not like this, not this intense! He looked down at himself as he watched the movement of his pants. He was definitely getting larger down there. The more he looked at his mistress' bare skin, the larger he seemed to get. When is it going to stop? It kept getting longer and thicker and pretty soon was at the furthest point it could go within his pants. It still kept going and the pressure was becoming uncomfortable. He had to unbutton his pants. It continued to get larger until it was even stretching his undergarment. It's not stopping! He even had to pull his underwear down. Then he got a good look as he was nearly 6 times larger than normal. Soon the growing slowed down, but then it began to get stiffer and harder.

He decided to reach down and touch it.

"Ahhhhhhh!" he softly exlaimed. It was nearly as hard as a tree branch.

He felt his mistress move next to him and she turned on her side with her back facing him. Laying on her side, he could see how narrow her midsection was and then this tapered slowly up to her shoulders. He slowly placed his hand on one of her shoulder blades. However, this made his condition even worse. He felt even more stiff. But after a short while later, he could feel the growing and stiffness stop and he breathed a sigh of relief that it did. However, the feeling of himself being so large was uncomfortable and it was sticking straight out from his body. He touched himself down there again. The tingling again intensified. "Whoa!" He thought.

Once again, he put his hand down but this time he squeezed with two fingers near the top.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" He exclaimed as a shooting feeling of pleasure just shot through his system.

He could hear Maleficent mumble, "Diaval...sleep? You Ok?" Her eyes were still closed. Then there was a slight snort and she resumed her heavy breathing.

He turned towards her and his eyes again started to run down the back of her neck, her long hair pooled in a pile below her left shoulder blade.

He wanted to touch her again noticing a nice little divot on the back of her neck. Once his finger contacted the spot, he could feel the tingling intensify.

"Sheesh! I wish this feeling would go away!" he said to himself.

"Hmmmmm", she sighed again but this time shaking her head a bit. Her horns almost clipped him in the head.

By now Diaval knew there was a connection between the way he was looking at Maleficent and what was going on between his legs. Wanting the feeling to subside, and quickly, he turned his back towards her. That seemed to help and after a time, it subsided and he could feel himself shrink back down.

"Whew! That was an awful experience."

Soon the other candle burned itself out and it was dark. It was also starting to get cool out. He pulled over a blanket that was on the foot of the bed and laid it over his mistress so she wouldn't catch a chill during the night. He cuddled up behind her and placed his head on her back again right between her shoulder blades. He put his arm around the narrow part of her back. He could feel her breathing and was following the rhythmic pattern. Soon he drifted off to sleep.

It was early morning when Maleficent woke up, the sky outside was just turning blue. "Wow! That was _some_ evening", she thought to herself. "I just don't know what came over me and then Diaval ended up getting caught in the middle of it all. And then to top everything, I ended up so distraught that I practically begged him to hold me." She smirked at the thought of their long embrace the previous evening but then she shook the feeling off.

"Mal, Mal, Mal! You have to get a grip! You can't keep letting that bastard, Stefan get you down. This time you REALLY got out of hand. Diaval's your servant...you shouldn't be asking things like that of him. He sure probably thought you gone daft...tearing the place apart and punching holes through doors."

She pulled the covers back and sat up. She noticed that she was still half dressed in her blood stained dress.

"Oh! I slept like _this_? I am still a mess!", she said in a small voice. She turned to look in back of her and realized that Diaval was gone.

"Hmmmm, maybe he went out to get something to eat?", she asked a question. "I better finish cleaning myself up before he gets back."

Diaval was getting something to eat, but there wasn't much to be had in the east forest. Only some berries, grapes and apples. "It will not be much of a breakfast, but it will be something until we get back home." he said.

He soon came back to the cottage and noticed the bedroom door was closed. He thought he'd left it open when he went out. "Hmmmm. I'd better knock to be safe, she might be up now."

He knocked on the door.

"Diaval, is that you?" he heard her voice. It sounded much better than the day before.

"Yes, it is, my mistress. I brought us something to eat. It isn't much but it should be fine for now."

"Just give me a moment as I decided to finish cleaning myself up while you were out."

"Ok, my mistress"

He waited for a short while when she called out to him.

"Diaval? Why did you bring my riding dress of all things. I am feeling better, but I am not sure if I should go riding today. I am still a bit weak", she asked.

"I don't know", Diaval replied. He was about to say, 'because I like the way it looks on you' but he hesitated and quickly changed his mind. "I just saw it and grabbed that one." then he added, "I wasn't sure if you want to walk or ride back home."

"Ahhh, I see, smart birdy you are indeed." her voice sounded impressed with his reasoning. "Ok, you can come in" she said as she opened the door.

Diaval came into the room with the food he picked and placed it all on the bureau. And then he gazed up on his mistress. She was all nicely cleaned up and had a radiant look on her face. He then had a sudden urge to ask about yesterday.

"Mistress, when we embraced, did you fe..."

Maleficent interrupted, "Yes, about that Diaval."

The tone in her voice changed back to the stern voice he was familiar with. "I was very distraught yesterday and that was something that just came over me and I was wrong to ask that of you", she explained.

"But, my mistress, it was fine, I thought..."

"Now, Now, my pet, don't read into it. It was just something that happened. I was just an emotional mess yesterday, but I am alright now."

Diaval sighed and then thought to himself, "I thought the hug was rather nice, but she's acting like it was something that shouldn't have happened. Hmmm, I don't know. I guess she would never like me in that way. I should put shame on myself for thinking there was more to it than that. But it was nice even though it was for just the one time."

"Diaval, I want to you keep everything that went on here yesterday to yourself. There will be no discussion of this to the other faeries...or Aurora. You got that?" she ordered.

"Yes, my mistress", he replied in a low disappointed voice.

The two sat on the bed eating what Diaval brought and didn't speak much. After breakfast the two packed up and then slowly headed back home, to their home in the barrier as it was closer than the Rowan Tree.

Maleficent appeared to be still tired and drained as she walked slowly leaning on her staff. Diaval came close and offered to hold her hand, but she refused. After that, he kept a distance of at least at least three feet from her.

Later on that day when Maleficent wanted to go to sleep he wanted to go off to the watering hole and reflect on the day's past. He propped himself up on a tree near the water. He wasn't there for more than 5 minutes when all of a sudden he was greeted by that all familiar red glow. It was Robin.

"Hello Hello Hello, Sir Diaval!" he greeted him.

"Good Morning, Robin", Diaval greeted back.

Robin plopped down on a branch that was hanging low and near Diaval's face.

"So, what happened yesterday? How's Maleficent doing?" Robin asked.

"She is fine, just resting up." Diaval answered. "I decided to come here and decompress for a bit."

"Yeah, I hear you." Robin agreed. "I had a funny feeling you would be here so I stopped here first. So, what happened?"

"It was just a fit of rage, brought on by her dwelling on the past with what King Stefan did to her."

"Really? She finally told you, huh? I am amazed." Robin said in a shocked voice.

Diaval continued. "Well, I know she told me not to tell any of the faeries, but since you know anyway... She told me everything about her wings and how King Stefan brutally removed them from her body. She even let me touch the spot where her wings were."

Robin's eyes got very wide and his jaw dropped. "She let you touch that spot! No one has ever seen her back, let alone touch that spot. Wow! She must really love you!"

"No, nothing to do with love. She doesn't believe in that anyway. But I was surprised myself that she did let me touch her there. Anyway, her story was horrible. I was devastated. It was so much, that I became ill afterwards." Diaval explained.

"Wow!" Robin then said, "Let me tell you that is a load off my chest as in later years I found it hard to keep that story from you. But a promise was a promise. Now we both know, so I don't have to keep it from you anymore." he sounded more cheerful.

The two continued to talk about what Stefan did to Maleficent and also elaborated more on the fit of rage she had yesterday. But then Robin changed the subject.

"Well, it was a long night. Did you two do anything else?" Robin asked.

"No. I just helped her clean herself up as she was tired and weak." Diaval replied.

"Details on the 'help her clean herself' part."

"Robin! It isn't what you think. Her arms were caked with blood and she was feeling faint. I helped her clean them."

"She let you touch her arms too?!" Robin asked. "Oh, you were on a roll! That sounds like we are making progress."

"Robin, for the last time there isn't anything between us. It is just Master – Servant", Diaval said moving his hands from one side to the other. "She was feeling faint and asked me to help clean her arms."

Robin was skeptical. "You are hiding something, aren't you."

"I am not, but if I was, I am not at liberty to say." Diaval bent the truth a bit. "Maleficent didn't want me to talk about it. She wanted to scratch off the whole day as if it didn't happen."

"Still, I am amazed that you both had some close contact. Maleficent normally doesn't like anyone touching her." Robin said matter of factly.

"She has somewhat lightened up on that over the years. But today when I walked her back home, she preferred to lean on her staff than to take my hand."

"Yeah...that sure sounds like she's herself. I guess she will be OK." Robin said. "Well, I will be by later to check on the lass."

"Robin, there was one other thing." Diaval had a sound of uncertainty in his voice as if he really didn't want to ask his next question.

"Yeesss", Robin said with an inquisitive look his face.

"There was a point in the night where I woke up and saw Maleficent lying on the bed with her arms exposed", again he exaggerated a bit not wanting to tell Robin that Maleficent was actually lying on the bed with nearly the entire top portion of her body exposed.

"I started to feel a sensation here from where I normally go to the bathroom with when I am a man", he explained pointing between his legs."

"That would be your penis, Diaval, it's called a penis", Robin informed him.

"Oh, Ok. But would you know why it would all of a sudden start to get larger and stiffer?" Diaval asked.

All of a sudden Robin started to laugh so hard he nearly tipped off the branch. "HAHAHAHO. HEH HEH HEH."

Robin just kept laughing and Diaval stared at him blankly.

"Well? Do you know?" he asked impatiently.

When his laughing slowly subsided, Robin said, "Yes, I do." he stated with a grin on his face.

"Diaval, my good buddy, it appears you have the hots for Maleficent".

"The whats?"

"The hots." Robin Repeated, "It means you are attracted to her, that is why you puffed up down there."

He continued, "Oh this is good! I think you really like her."

"Well, I do enjoy her company, but that is about it. I can't get close to her or put my hands on her, as that is unacceptable. It's rule number three, she doesn't want to be touched. That is really that."

"Oh, you are rather fond of her! There is something you find attractive about Maleficent and that is what caused that", he said while pointing between Diavals legs.

"Well, whatever it is, the point is moot. Maleficent wouldn't let me come near her. So I don't know why it is happens, it just does."

"Hummph", Robin wasn't buying it.

"Robin, I know you are going to hate me for this, but I am going to ask of you to make a promise." Diaval asked.

Robin let out a sigh, but then answered, "Ok, Ok. Let me guess, you want to keep this dicussion between us and not tell anyone, especially Maleficent."

"Yes, definitely." Diaval said nervously.

"You drive a hard bargain, but you got it. Discussion forgotten." Robin said as he continued to smile.

"If that is all, I am off to get myself some breakfast. I haven't eaten yet! I ended up sleeping late this morning because I couldn't get to sleep thinking about you two."

"Good day, Diaval", Robin waved and then started to fly off.

"Good day, Robin. I'll tell Maleficent you will be by later."

Diaval continued to lean up against the tree and thought to himself. This is serious. I hope he keeps that promise and that it never gets back to Maleficent. He watched as a few water faeries were playing by the waterfall. He tried to clear his thoughts and do as Maleficent said to try to forget about the previous day. But the day was very intense, and he thought it would be something that would be difficult to forget no matter how he tried.

About a month passed and Diaval was in his normal form doing a perimeter check when he noticed some commotion going on the main road. On the road was a weird looking horse and covered wagon that had a red cross painted on the side. It was going to the castle. He followed the wagon to the castle and then looked into the windows and found the queen laying in bed. Apparently the wagon carried some sort of doctor. The doctor was explaining something to King Stefan and all he kept saying was "No No No, this can't be!" The doctor then explained something about an earlier miscarried baby and hemorage. There was another baby? These words didn't mean anything to Diaval, but he knew they would mean something to his mistress, so off he flew to her. He met her by the waterfall that night.

"She's dying, Diaval", she said. "So, there was another child a while back, huh? a failed birth." She said in cool voice. Then a smirk appeared on her face. She looked north in the direction of the castle and then yelled out. "Payback's a bitch, huh Stefan! Now you will be like me...all alone! Funny how things work out my way and I didn't lift a finger in this case. HA!"

Diaval took a couple steps back as it has been a while since Maleficent had an outburst like that. In a way he felt sad for the queen, but thinking back to that night when Maleficent told him about her wings. There was also a feeling of satisfaction and he couldn't blame his mistress from blurting out those mean words.

"What else, my friend."

Friend? Wow! She hadn't used that word in a while. I guess she was in a really good mood.

"Well, my mistress, it is getting more and more difficult to find windows and other openings around the castle. King Stefan is obssessed with holeing himself up in the castle surrounding it with iron. Lately the drawbridge is always up too. That is all." he explained.

"He's hiding. Coward! YOU COWARD! You always were a coward!" she yelled out again. Her voice echoed over the rocks. "You're afraid of me now! And you should be! You're next!" her voice slowly returned to normal volume. "Let's give him a little message, shall we, something that might make him think that we know about his wife." She said in a very evil sounding tone.

Before Diaval could comment on her remark, she slammed the end of her staff to the ground and a large thick green bolt of electricity shot into the sky. When it hit the clouds, it made a loud clap of thunder and electricity raced through the cloud. Then a green bolt of lightning shot from the cloud in the direction of the castle.

"Think Stefan will notice that, huh?" she asked.

Diaval looking on and just answered back, "Yes, I believe that will do the trick."

She then turned towards Diaval and said, "Diaval, once again you have done an outstanding job with your report from the castle." she smiled. "That is one thing you always were excellent at doing. You certainly have a great pair of wings."

Diaval always liked it when she smiled. She seemed to be doing it much more often now than when they first met. But as soon as she finished saying that last line, the smile quickly went away from her face and for a few seconds she appeared to be deep in thought. Then she shook it off.

"I have to come up with a good reward for you, but tonight we are going to see Aurora. She's been wanting to have a 'sleep over' for a while, and I figure it is time. I have to put the 3 faeries under a sleep spell so they don't awaken through the night."

"That does sound wonderful, I am sure we will have fun." Diaval said.

"Yes, we will." She said still having a small smile on her face. Before turning around Diaval caught his mistress' eye follow down his open shirt and she raised and eyebrow while turning around.

What was that look about, Diaval thought to himself. Well, whatever it was, she sure did look good doing it.

All three of them were in Malefcient's bedroom in the Rowan tree. She opened the roof and a large moon was high up in the sky and lit up the Moors below. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and Diaval sat by the edge of the bed closest to the window. Maleficent was in her night gown. She made a similar but slightly smaller gown for Aurora to wear. It was slightly more ornate than her own.

"Oh, Faerie Godmother, it's wonderful. Thank you for making it for me!". Aurora said. Then she jumped across the bed and gave Maleficent a huge hug.

"Oh! My word! Beastie, that isn't necessary, a thank you is fine enough." Maleficent somehow sounded a bit uncomfortable with Aurora hugging her.

Aurora didn't listen, she kept on hugging her. Then much to Diaval's amazement, Malefcient closed her eyes and rested her cheek on Aurora's head.

Through the night the three played games with Malefcient using her magic. There were guessing games, a hiding game, some game called 'I Spy'. Diaval was in awe as many of these games Robin mentioned he played with Malefcient when she was a child. Oh, only if Robin was here now. He would love this.

Then when the games were done, Aurora said, "Are you going to tell me now Faery Godmother, why don't you have wings."

Diaval's face grew pale and he almost slid off the end of the bed.

"Yes," she answered.

Diaval fell off the bed and the two ladies laughed.

"Sorry, my mistress, I slipped."

Maleficent then told the story of how her wings were stolen from her, of course she left out the part that it was Stefan, Aurora's father, of whom did the horrific act.

Soon it was getting late and Aurora was getting sleepy.

"Well, that _was_ a fun night!" Diaval exlaimed. "I guess you two ladies will sleep here and I will go up to my nest."

"No!" Aurora shouted, "Faerie Godmother, please can Diaval sleep with us."

"No, I don't think that would be appropriate and besides, the bed will not fit three." Maleficent said.

"It's ok, Aurora, I am fine with going back up to my nest." Diaval said, "You stay with your Faerie Godmother in bed. This is your first time, I been here before."

Just then Diaval realized what he just said, and he looked up to see two shocked faces looking straight at him.

Aurora spoke first with a bright smile on her face, "Faerie Godmother...Oh, you and Diaval are sleeping together. That's sweet!"

"No, No, No, Beastie that came out wrong," Maleficent said while glaring at Diaval.

"Yes, she is correct, Aurora." Diaval recovered. "I was in this bed once when I was ill. It was only for one night. She was kind enough to let me sleep here."

"Oh." Aurora's enthusiasm was quickly squelched. But then her eye's narrowed and she looked straight into Maleficent's eyes. "So where did you sleep then Faerie Godmother?"

"Ok, Ok, I slept next to Diaval with my back to him. Nothing happened, there is nothing between us. He was not well and I took care of him."

"You SURE nothing happened?"

"NO!" Both Maleficent and Diaval blurted it out.

"I am sorry, Aurora, but I am best off going back to my nest."

"I got an idea!" Aurora exclaimed. "Get the small chair over there."

Diaval brought the chair over to Aurora's side of the bed which was near the window. Aurora took the chair and placed it in between the window and the bed.

"Ok, so sit on the chair and put your feet on the window sill. Then lean your body back on to the bed. I will sleep on that side and Faerie Godmother will be in the middle."

"Ok, Ok", Maleficent finally gave in. "Let's get this over with so we can get some sleep!"

Maleficent moved over near Diaval and laid flat on the bed, the side of her body was very close to Diaval's head. Aurora moved to the other side of the bed where there was now plenty of room for her to lay down. She tossed a blanket over to Diaval.

"Here you go, Diaval. Catch!" Aurora said.

Diaval turned to catch the blanket, but Aurora threw it too soon and it landed square on Diaval's face. Both Aurora and Maleficent laughed. He smirked a bit while putting the covers down over himself.

"Goodnight everyone!" shouted Aurora.

"Goodnight Aurora, Goodnight my mistress", Diaval said.

"Goodnight Diaval, Goodnight Beastie", Malficent said.

As they were settling in to sleep, Diaval noticed that his mistress' night gown was up to it's old tricks and when she moved over in the bed, it pulled under on that side and her left shoulder was nicely exposed. As she continued to settle in and moved her arms up and down to straighten the sheets, those two little lines on her shoulder would show up. He wanted to put his hand on her shoulder badly and then all of a sudden he could feel that tingling again between his legs.

"Oh no! Not again!" he thought to himself. He quickly looked away, not only to avoid being caught staring by Maleficent, but the last time he looked away from her, the sensation went away. Like the last time, it went away this time as well.

After the feeling subsided, he could feel a pull that wanted to make his eyes drift over to Maleficent's bare shoulder again.

"No! Diaval, fight it! You are just a servant, she made that clear earlier."

Diaval turned to face the foot of the bed, now with his head turned he couldn't so easily turn around now. But just as he was grinning on his accomplishment and nestled in to drift off to sleep, he all of a sudden felt fingers start to run through his hair. He turned a bit to look back and her eyes were closed, she appeared to be sleeping. He turned back to face the foot of the bed. She still continued to run her fingers through his hair. Even though it did feel good, he wasn't getting that tingling feeling, so that was OK. It felt like it did when she would rub him behind the neck when he was a bird. So, he just let the feeling sink in and then finally drifted off to sleep.

During the night Diaval drifted in and out of conciousness. He started to dream about the other night when he was locked in an embrace with his mistress. He dreamed of running his hands up and down her arms. All of sudden he felt a pull as she pulled him closer to her. This pull seemed intense, very realistic for a dream. He slowly drifted out of his dream and came too. He was staring his mistress in the face their noses almost touching. Her eyes were still closed. But he was horrified when he realized his arms were completely wrapped around her neck. Her arms were around his waist and were STILL trying to pull him closer. He could feel something heavy was on his leg. He slightly lifted his head to peer down his body and his mistress had her bare leg completely over and hooked around his legs.

"Oh No!", Diaval thought to himself. "If she wakes up and catches me like this, she will KILL me for sure."

"Now if I only could get my arms out then perhaps I might be able to lift her leg partially and then push myself down to the floor. It would appear as if I fell out of bed and nothing more." Diaval planned.

As he started to pull the arm out that was under her neck.

"Hmmmmmmmm...Ohhh", she let out a good moan.

Then she ran her arm up to his chest and pulled him closer to her his chest was firmly pressed against her breasts. Her leg tightened it's grip around his legs. Diaval had to move his head back otherwise their faces would have certainly met.

Now he couldn't move at all.

"Mmmmmmmmm", she let out another good moan. This one was loud enough that he even heard Aurora stir on the other side of the bed.

"Oh this is bad, really bad! I can't move and..." He paused for a bit and then he noticed that his mistress was starting to breath heavier than before. As she inhaled he could feel her breasts push into his chest. The feel of her so close suddenly caused that tingling sensation between his legs.

"No! This is the last thing I need now."

He could feel himself start to get larger and as before soon it was pressing up against his pants. But now with nowhere to go but up, the next spot it would expand into would be her thigh and that would be a huge problem.

"Think, Diaval, Think. Ravens are smart. Think before it is too late!"

Then an idea popped into his head when he noticed that we was right at the edge of the bed. "Ahhhhh, I will just roll over and pull her with me. I will land on the floor and she will land on top of me, cushioning her fall on top of me. Then I could play it off as if she rolled over on to me in her sleep and we both fell off the bed."

"I'm sorry, my mistress" he whispered and with that he held on to her back and gave a good twist to the side and..."Fadump!" The two fell to the floor.

On the way down, her forehead hit his forehead and her knee slammed right in his penis.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrghhhh", he yelled out.

Both Maleficent and Aurora woke up.

"Owwwww!" Maleficent yelled out, reaching up to her forehead.

"Where are you Faerie Godmother", Aurora exlaimed as she looked around and didn't see either her nor Diaval.

When Maleficent realized that she was lying right on top of Diaval, she jumped up and had a scared look on her face.

"What? How?" she said in a surprised voice.

Diaval was on the floor, his face scrunched up showing the look of pain. Both of his hands were clutching his penis.

Aurora, after hearing Diaval's grunts of pain, scrambled across the bed and saw Diaval on the floor in the exact place she saw her Faerie Godmother rise up from.

"Ohhhhh!" she had an ear to ear smile. "Where you two?" She paused and pointed her finger alternately between Maleficent and Diaval.

Both Maleficent and Diaval shouted out at the same time, "No!"

Diaval then pushed out the words between the pain, "Mistress rolled over into me and I fell down and she fell on top of me. It was an accident and nothing more."

Maleficent's frightened look melted away and she had a more serene look now on her face. "I'm sorry, Diaval. I do sometimes move around in my sleep and that is why I have a large bed. I must have rolled on top of you."

She reached over grabbed his hand and helped him up and on to the bed.

"Thank you, my mistress."

She sat down on the bed next to him and was rubbing her forehead. She had a puzzled look on her face. She shrugged her shoulders and then crawled back to her side of the bed.

It worked, albeit, not exactly as planned, but it worked.

"My mistress?"

"Yes, Diaval"

"Can you please change me back to my normal self and I will sleep in my nest for the rest of the night".

"Ohhhhhh! I want you to be with us," Aurora begged.

"Ok, Aurora, I will just sleep on the floor."

Diaval grabbed his blanket and moved over to the floor on Aurora's side of the bed.

The three of them all nestled back down and it wasn't long before they drifted off to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10: How She Trains Her Dragon

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 10 How She Trains Her Dragon

Four months passed on the Moors and Diaval gave the news to Maleficent of Queen Leila's passing. She apparently passed away from a severe hemorage which was predicted by the doctor.

At the time of her death, King Stefan was having his own problems. He appeared to be slowly going mad. Diaval saw through a small opening in the wall of the west wing that King Stefan would retreat to a room there that didn't have any windows. There appeared to be only one door to the room. There were no other points in. Diaval had no idea what was so special about that room but he spent quite a bit of time in there. Often the king had one of his gaurds outside the door keeping watch while he was in the room. On the night of her death a guard explained to Stefan that his queen was in her death throws and he chose to be in that room instead of by her side. He was withdrawing more and more and appeared less and less outside of the castle. His beard grew thick and hair was unkempt. He had a desheveled look most of the time. He spent his days either sitting on his throne or in that room. He looked like he was getting older and weaker by the day. Whereas by contrast, he noticed his mistress seemed to become stronger, more powerful and more beautiful with each day.

"So...She finally croaked, huh?" she said with a menacing smile.

"Like a Hop Toad." Diaval added, but wasn't too happy with the words that exited his mouth.

Maleficent chuckled a bit and then turned around with a proud smile holding her hand up with her fingers all togther. "Why Diaval, you made another funny! Ahhh, I always knew you had an evil streak in you too. You just like to hide it. But both of us share the same feelings for those wretched humans."

As she said that, she subconciously reached out her hand and placed it on his shoulder and ran her fingers part way down his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze and she laughed. But as Diaval looked at her hand, she quickly wihdrew it. Diaval had noticed that lately she liked to do that in addition to the rare occasion when she put her arm around his neck or waist. But when she realized what she did, she would quickly withdraw her hand. It was almost as if her own rule number three also applied to her as well.

She looked out towards the castle as she did before when Diaval gave her the news that the queen was ill.

She yelled out again, mocking the king. "Awwww, poor Stefan all alone now?" she gritted her teeth.

"Now you are alone just like me! You could have lived a long time had you stayed with me, you bastard! But you tossed me aside! Soon the curse will play itself out and then _you will be next!_"

Once again she slammed the end of her staff down and a green bolt of lighting shot up into the clouds. From there the bolt shot out to the castle and hit the roof of the highest tower, showering sparks down the castle sides below.

"Another little message to let him know, Diaval", she gloated with a grin on her face.

Diaval thought to himself, "Here we go again". These shouting sessions were getting old as there was no way the King could even hear Maleficent. He wished she would just let it go. But he wasn't in a position to quesiton her as he remembered rule number two. He figured if it made her happy, then so be it. At least she was smiling.

As the two started to walk back to their home in the wall, Diaval started to think about Aurora and the curse. He felt he was getting close to the princess and he had fun with her on the Moors. If somehow Maleficent would lift that curse...

Another four months came and went when Diaval finally had an idea that might save Aurora.

He said to Robin, "I want to do something special for Maleficent."

"Oh?" Robin replied. Robin grew curious.

"The way I figure it, if there is some kind of animal that I could be changed into that could help her fly then maybe I might be able to convince her to focus more on her revenge with Stefan and perhaps save Aurora the fate of that curse. If she could fly again, I might be able to convince her to lift the curse."

"But what about Stefan, the curse was supposed to be the ultimate revenge against him?"

"Initially yes, but now...I don't think so. She invited Aurora into the Moors and she seems to interact with her very well. I think she is slowly realizing that her anger lies with Stefan alone. I know even with the curse she still wants to kill him and that is something I would like to see her do myself. That bastard was the cause of this whole mess to begin with."

"So what are you thinking...some sort of an attack on the castle? That would be dangerous even if we had the Moors creatures and Fae folk behind us. Usually we just defend the Moors, not plan an attack against the humans. That would be suicide." Robin said.

"Yes, but I know that castle, I am the only one from the Moors that has been there regularly. So from what I seen, he has made the castle an iron fortress so there isn't any way we could get her inside from the ground." Diaval said.

"So, we need something with wings that is big and could get Maleficent inside the castle another way, like from above."

"That something would also need to be strong enough to get her their safely." Diaval added.

"Hmmmm, Robin Sighed"

"Hmmmm, Diaval responded"

The two of them were by their favorite thinking spot by the watering hole, Diaval leaning against his favorite tree. Robin was on his favorite branch.

"I certainly don't know of any bird that is that big." Diaval said.

"What about a flying fox?" Robin asked.

"Foxes don't fly."

"It's not really a fox, but a type of large bat"

"Could Maleficent make a bat large enough to support a person?" Diaval asked.

"Not sure. I have never seen it done, though" Robin answered.

"Why did you bring it up then?"

"Hmmm, I don't know. Just scraping the bottom of the barrel here."

Diaval was deep in thought and then something hit him. "Robin, when I was flying doing my perimeter checks, I saw the old ruins of a small castle towards the south. I recall there was a torn up flag there that had a picture of a large animal with wings on it."

"That would be Dragon Claw cast..." Robin stopped himself and had a blank stare on his face as if deep in thought. "Diaval, you are a genius! That's it!"

"What's it?"

"A dragon!", he said excitedly. "They are very rare, but they are big, they are armored, and can fly!"

"That's great!"

"They also have an additional bonus", Robin said with a smirk on his face. "They can breath fire."

"That is perfect...a perfect front line defence and a way to have Maleficent fly again" Diaval said, "But now the question remains...can Maleficent do it?"

Later on that day...

"Wha...What did you want me to change you into?" Maleficent asked.

"A dragon" Robin and Diaval said at the same time.

"Can you do it?" Robin asked.

"Robin, I think you lost your mind." Maleficent rolled her eyes. "Even if I could do it, which I don't think I can, a dragon is completely different from a horse or a man or even a bird. Who knows if he would even be able to fly. Then there is the whole fire breathing part." Maleficent shook her head. "It could take many months for him to get proficient enough and we don't have that time. What if during training or flights, he is seen by Stefan's soldiers? Unlike a bird a dragon would be very easy to spot from the castle. If he knows I have a dragon, he will take measures against an attack."

She then turned to Diaval and said, "Diaval, you could be hurt or worse, killed. No, I can't allow it."

"What if we train beyond Dragon Claw castle?" Diaval said. "I think that land behind the south forest is far away enough that if I fly low, I shouldn't be able to be seen. There is also a cliff there that could be used as a launching point. In additon, perhaps you could also raise the back of the thorn wall and that would even block the view of the castle even further."

"But what about the road?" Maleficent joined in. The road to Stefan's castle also goes past Dragon's Claw. Anyone going to Stefan's castle could easily see a dragon."

"What if we train at night?" Diaval said. "Since I am a black raven and everything you changed me into so far was black, would it make sense the dragon will also be black? So flying at night, I shouldn't easily be seen."

Maleficent sat for a while and brewed on it and soon a smirk appeared on her face. "Diaval, you always have been one smart birdy."

"So, that's it then", Robin said.

"I have my work cut out for me on this one, guys", Malficent shook her head. "I don't know much about dragons and have to read up on them in my books if it is even possible to change you into one."

"Diaval, you have the next 3 days off. I am going to be busy." she added.

After 3 days past, the three met again at the Rowan Tree.

"Well", Maleficent opened the afternoon's discussion. "It can be done!"

"Yes!" Both Diaval and Robin excitedly exclaimed.

"I hope I don't regret this, but we will start tonight," Maleficent said, "Diaval, you will fly to Dragon's Claw as yourself. I will meet you there. From there we will go to the clearing past the forest together on foot. There I will change you into a dragon and we will start some training runs. Now once I change you into a dragon, we will do pretty much the basics, walking, running. You are not to breath fire though."

"I wouldn't know how, my mistress."

"From what I was reading, it is almost akin to a human...", she stopped and scrunched her nose up. "spitting."

"Ugghh", Diaval said, "But I don't do that".

"I know, so that might work in our favor."

"So, tonight it is", Robin said.

"Robin," Maleficent said, "I think it is best if Diaval and I go alone. The less the number of us out there, the better."

"Ohhhhh!", Robin grunted angrily, "Ok, but when he starts to fly, I want to be there".

"I'll see what I can do", Maleficent said.

That night the two met behind Dragon's Claw Castle when Maleficent turned Diaval back into a man. From there they walked to the clearing behind the south forest.

"Diaval?"

"Yes, my mistress."

"I hope you are having second thoughts about this, as I am."

"No, I think this is something I need to do. Having an animal as powerful as a dragon by your side I have the ability to save your life if you are threatened."

"Always the gentleman, huh Diaval?" She smiled a bit.

They walked into the dark forest.

"Sheesh, it is dark in here," Diaval said.

"That reminds me, as a dragon, you will have dragon vison, and I too can put a spell on myself that will do the same. So we will both be able to see at night. It will be as if it were seeing during a cloudy day." Maleficent explained.

"That sounds good." Diaval replied as they came to the clearing.

Diaval walked to the center of the clearing and shouted back to Maleficent. "Ok, I'm ready"

Maleficent rolled up the sleeves on her robe and said, "Here goes nothing...or everything for that matter."

She waved both her arms several times around creating a large ball of yellow wispy light in front of her. Diaval could see her close her eyes tightly and slightly turn her head away. "Into a dragon."

Unlike previous transformations, this one went slow and was painful. Diaval screamed as he could feel his chest expand. His arms and legs expanded too. He could feel the tension on his skin become so great, his skin started to split.

Maleficent could hear sounds of ripping and tearing. Maleficent called out, "Diaval? My goodness! What is happening to you?" Her voice sounded frightened and then she quickly cast a spell on herself. "Night vision", she said.

She saw Diaval was slumped over and his contorted body expand and claws broke through his finger and toe nails.

Maleficent shook her fists and cried out, "No! No! No! Stop! Stop!" she waved her hands in the air in vain as she knew a transformation couldn't be stopped mid way.

Large dark bumps appeared on his back and an expanded under his skin. Soon the skin split and wings started to form and a tail grew behind him. His face morphed into a that of a dragon and horns began to grow from his scalp. 6 spikes grew out from the base of head on each size. His size started to grow exponentially. His cries turned to deep growls.

All Maleficent could do was watch horrified. All the while she prayed that Diaval would live through this. She winced as the shrieks of his pain fell on her ears. His wings unfurled and much to her amazement the wings had feathers and looked exactly like larger versions of the ones she had. Soon the transformation was complete.

He slumped to the ground with all his limbs flat lying on his belly. His wings folded on his back. His breathing was heavy, and one of his coal eyes was on Maleficent. While his iris and pupil's were both black, it appeared his iris was a shade lighter, almost like a dark grey. His Iris' vertical slit expanded as he focused on Maleficent.

Maleficent got up and rushed over to his face and close to his eye. The good news was that he appeared to be alive. But in what shape he was in remained to be seen. She put her arm over his snout. "Diaval, are you ok?

He rolled his head towards her and he tried to form a smirk with his large mouth.

"Diaval, please tell me you are fine."

He raised his head up a little and nodded, 'yes'.

"I am going to change you back, I should have never let you talk me into this."

He shook his head side to side, saying 'no'.

"Are you certain you are fine like this?"

He nodded, 'yes'.

He laid there motionless for a while as Maleficent once again put her arm around his snout. Slowly Diaval picked up his front left claw and with the back his fore talon he slowly reached over and rubbed Maleficent's back, being extra careful to go extra lightly as to not harm her. He just wanted to show her he was Ok.

She looked up at him and smiled, "Oh, Diaval...always the gentleman...", she stopped and thought, "...gentlebeast."

He grinned back at her.

Maleficent cast a healing spell over his body to double check if everything was fine, and he _was_ fine.

The transformation seemed like a lab experiment that went horribly wrong. Instead of a smooth transistion, it seemed the dragon form expanded 'through' his human form. Something _did_ go wrong, but luckily in the end he turned out OK. He was completely exhausted from the transformation. He just wanted to lay there and rest. A stinging sensation rang out throughout his body.

"Oh, thank goodness. I don't know what I would have done if you died."

He never heard Maleficent talk like this so softly to him and with such a soft expression in her eyes. She continued to talk to him describing to him what he looked like.

"Diaval, you are magnificent. You are as black as darkness itself. You still have your ebony eyes, as always. You have two large horns your head and they are curved like my own horns. Your tail is very long...You will be a well balanced flyer. Your wings...they are most wonderful thing about you. They have feathers and...and...", she tried hard to choke back her tears "they look exactly like the ones I had."

He unfurled one of his wings, the side that Maleficent was on and showed her.

She just stood in awe looking at the large unfurled wing. He looked back himself and got a good look at his wing.

"hmmmmph", Diaval grunted when his eye caught sight of his own wing. He then looked at this mistress and tried to imagine her with the same wings on her back. She would look very beautiful indeed with those wings. But she was beautiful already even without her wings.

He put both his head and wing back down, but he didn't fold his wing. Instead he placed it on the ground close to Maleficent. He then used his claw and pointed towards his wing.

"You want me to touch your wing?" she asked.

He nodded yes.

A large smile appeared on her face when she walked over to his wing and started to run her fingers though the feathers that lined the front edge of his wing.

Her small hands felt good rubbing his wings. He closed his eyes and let out another grunt.

"Hmmmmmmph"

He lowered his wing to the ground further and motioned with his foretalon.

"You want me to climb on your wing?" she asked.

He nodded, 'yes'.

As she climbed up on his wing he lifted his head a bit.

Maleficent just layed down in the middle of his wing running her fingers through his large feathers. She closed her eyes.

"Diaval. I could lay here all night, Your wings are wonderful!"

Diaval continued to watch on as Maleficent snuggled within his feathers as he would often see Aurora do with leaves in the fall. For this moment it seemed as if Maleficent was a kid herself and he let her have her much needed fun.

After a while she hopped down off his wing.

"Thank you, Diaval." Her voiced returned it's normal well composed self. "Are you willing to stand now?"

He nodded 'yes'.

With that he got up on all fours fairly slowly. But now walking would be another thing. Unlike the smooth slender legs he had when he was a horse, or even a dog, the legs on a dragon were stout and very bulky. However it did seem a bit the same as the time that Maleficent transformed him into a lizard which also had short stout legs. But he was very unsure of his large size as this was the largest creature she had ever transformed him into.

He looked over to Maleficent and she was riffling though one of her books she brought along.

"Diaval?" she called up to him.

He turned to look at her. "Hummmmph" he grunted as if he said, "yes".

"I know what went wrong. For this particular form, I should have transformed you from your original self. The transistion would have been smoother and less painful than jumping from another transformed version of you. So I have to remember to tranform you into your raven form both before and after I transform you into the dragon."

Maleficent hung her head down and said, "I am sorry, Diaval, I could have killed you for not reading that beforehand. It is not like me to overlook something as important as that."

Diaval gestured to her that it was OK, let out a grunt and he started to walk around the field getting a feel for the new dragon body. He swung his tail back and forth. He reared up on his hind legs and then came crashing back down. He also did some jumping and hopping. There was a point where he even trotted as if he was a horse.

Maleficent just laughed as he tried to change his facial expressions. Having a snout was certainly more difficult to move his lips as there were many more points around his face than there were with other animals. However, he clearly remembered that it seemed similar to when he was turned into a dog or a wolf which were animals that also had a long snout. As with a dog or wolf, he did have a heightened sense of smell too. He could actually smell the sweet smell in Maleficent's hair even though she was many yards away from his nose. He knew he could use that scent to find her if she ever was in need of help.

He then sat down on his hind legs in front of Maleficent and unfurled both of his wings as far as they could go. He looked down at her, raised an eyebrow and shuddered his wings.

"Diaval? Are you displaying for me?" Maleficent seemed to enjoy his display. "Those wings of yours certainly are magnificent."

It seemed that once Diaval started to move around he could feel a surge of confidence run though him. He felt very proud and he seemed to have less inhabitions when he was the dragon.

"Ok, Diaval, that is enough for our first night", she stated.

He cocked his head side to side and then nodded, 'yes'.

"Ok, I hope this goes as the book says." she had a worried sound in her voice.

She flicked her wrist and very smootly Diaval's form shrank down to his raven self.

He sat on the ground cawing.

"Whew! That seemed to go much better", Maleficent sighed. "Into a man."

Diaval transformed back into a man.

"Well?" She asked, "How was it?"

"Incredible!" Diaval answered.

Maleficent smirked at his initial remark.

"I have to tell you, aside from that horrible first transformation, I like the dragon as much as the horse."

"I would expect even more so once you start to fly", she added.

She then grew serious and her voice went back to its normal stern sound, "I just want to say to your face that I am sorry. I should have known better to make a horrible mistake like that. It was that there was so much information and I rushed...overlooking that."

"I couldn't help but notice that you really were upset and it seems like you really care my mistress", Diaval said curiously.

"Of course I care, Diaval, you are an animal and I for one would never forgive myself if an animal was harmed by my hand. That is why I was upset. In addition, I have a vested interest in you as you being my confidant for many years. Losing you and starting over _this_ late in the game, would be disastrous to my plan."

"Wouldn't you think that caring is a form of love?"

Malficent shook her head. "Nonsense, Diaval. Caring and loving are two different things. Remember, what I told you, there is no such thing as true love. It just doesn't exist and I am proof of that. Caring is not loving. I can care, but I can't love. Now, no more on this."

"Oh, Ok." Diaval clearly wasn't happy with her answer as Maleficent had always skirted the issue whenever the 'L' word was mentioned. But in a way he understood given the manner in which her heart was broken.

"By the way, Thank you, Diaval."

"What for, my mistress?"

"I appreciate you allowing me to touch your wings and allowing me to...well...", she stopped and tilted her head side to side trying to muster up the words to say, "... to play with your wings."

"You said that my wings as a dragon were nearly identical to the ones you had?"

"Yes, that is amazing. I wasn't expecting that. Dragon wings are more like bat wings that have membranes, but when I saw your wings were feathered, I just..." she paused and once again her eyes misted over. "They were magnificent like my own were."

Maleficent continued, "I certainly would like to see you as a dragon again, if for only to see those wings again."

"'Well, that you will indeed and I want to be the dragon again too.", but I think I do need some rest after that awful transformation.

"Two nights from now?"

"Yes, that's sounds good, my mistress."

Two nights came and past and on the third night they met again in the clearing. It was a windy night and Maleficent thought it would be a good idea for to try some wind catching and perhaps do some low in place gliding so Diaval could get a feel for how his new wings behaved. She figured he should get the knack of it pretty fast since he did have bird wings as a dragon. They went to the small cliff at the end of the clearing which allowed for pretty good cross and updrafts. She brought a heavy rope and using her magic she tied one end around his foot and the other to a set of trees near the cliff to hold him in place.

"Ok, Diaval, are you ready?"

"HUH! He grunted and gave her a downward nod."

She then explained the basics of flight with a large set of wings and for the most part it would be like when he was a bird, but it was also different in that he would be dealing with a much greater size and weight.

"Ok, so when a large gust of wind comes, angle your wings downward slightly to get some lift."

Diaval outstretched his wings and angled them into the wind. So far nothing happened. He then pitched the back end of his feathers down, the wind caught his wings and pushed them up.

"Whoa!" He thought as he grunted. It certainly looks like he will need some muscle power to keep the wings level.

Ok, so next gust of wind came and he tried to keep the wings level. Again the wind tried to push his wings up. But he fought it this time and he could feel the front end of his body lift up a bit.

"That's it Diaval, keep that up!", Maleficent shouted to him.

The next gust of wind came and he pitched up and when his front claws lifted, he pitched back and his back claws lifted off the ground.

"Yes! You got it, now hold that."

At first he was doing good, but then another gust came on top of the one he was riding and then he lifted up too fast, the rope pulled taught and distracted him. His wings flipped up and he plummeted right back down slamming into the cliff.

"Oowwrrrrahhh", he cried out.

"Diaval! Are you Ok?"

He nodded 'yes'.

"Ok, lets try it again"

Diaval looked straight into the wind and his eyes narrowed with determination. The next gust came and he had a near perfect lift off. Once he got going he started making regular adjustments to his wings. The larger wings and heavier body seemed to require much more figeting around with than whan he was a raven. This time he was good though, he seemed to have good control over the glide adjusting his wings.

"Good Diaval, now try pitching your wings to go slightly up and down"

He followed his mistress' instructions and slowly adjusted the pitch of his wings up and down. He pitched up when another gust of wind blew and pushed him further up. This took him by surprise. The set of trees that the rope was tied to snapped and Diaval was loose. The updraft pulled him high above the cliff.

"Wawarrrrrahhhh", Diaval cried out as the earth fell out below him. He was free.

"Diaval! Try to come back down!"

Diaval tried to adjust the pitch of the wings down, but he didn't come down straight enough and he shot down past the cliff and was heading towards the field below the cliff.

Maleficent shouted as he went past her, "Diaval! Control yourself and get back to the cliff!"

Diaval swooped down and he adjusted his wings to get more lift. He certainly was flying now. "YES! He thought. But there was one problem, he hadn't tried turning yet. He tried to do a banking turn as would as a bird adjusting both his wings and tail. He went for a right turn and found that he banked beautifully into the turn. Hmmm not much different when I am myself, he thought to himself. Coming around, he knew he was getting close to the ground. He pushed down with a couple of good flaps. He could feel his own immense weight working against him and he needed quite a bit more lift than when he is a bird. Luckily the massive wings did compensate for his large size. A couple of flaps more and he was level with the cliff. He caught sight of Maleficent and purposely veerd to the left to make sure he wouldn't come anywhere near her. He feared with his clumsy size that he might accidently crash into her. But he discovered he had another problem...landing. He pulled his wings down but he misjudged the distance due to his large size. He past his landing mark and the forest was coming up FAST. He pulled his wings down even harder to brake quickly as he would if he was a bird. He stopped too fast and stalled above the trees.

Whooom! Diaval crashed into the trees.

He found he was laying on his chest with his chin on the ground. He could feel a pain in his front right leg.

Just then he heard his mistress come around the trees to aid him.

"Diaval! Diaval! Are you OK?"

Arrrrrrgghhhh!

She waved her hand and he turned back into a bird. With another wave, he changed into a man.

"My right arm, my mistress, I think it's broken." he painfully said.

"Lie still, I will get that fixed up for you", she said.

With a bit of green swirls of magic that hovered around his arm, he could feel the bones joining back together in his arm. He let out a scream from the pain. Maleficent's face winced knowing he was in pain.

"We are going to take a day off, you need some rest." she said. "We are going to have to walk all the way back towards the Moors as you shouldn't fly as a bird with that arm tonight."

Maleficent pulled the belt off her robe and tied up Diavals arm in a makeshift sling to kept it steady.

"Your arm should be all better in the morning."

The two started back to the Moors and eventually reached the Rowan tree.

"You can sleep in my bed tonight." Maleficent said.

When Diaval was ill, his mistress often let him sleep in her bed. While he started to settle in, she came up from the lower room with her night gown on, once again the neckline was shifted and she was bearing her shoulder.

Maleficent reached over to Diaval and removed the sling she put on him earlier with her right hand and Diaval could see those two indentations form on her shoulder as she lifted up her arm and reached for the sling.

Diaval tried not to make his looking at her obvious. For some reason, he didn't want her to cover her shoulder this time. She climbed in bed facing and laid on her back. She waved her hand and the ceiling retracted. She peered out for a while.

"A nice night out, huh?" she asked.

"Yes, mistress." he answered. "I always like it better with the roof down."

"Goodnight Diaval."

"Goodnight, my mistress".

It wasn't long before she turned on her side to face the window. Her bare shoulder was now turned up. Her hair pooled behind her in a disarray. When he noticed her breathing changed and became deep, he knew she was fast asleep. Diaval took his hand and carefully coiled her hair up nicely behind her. He moved in closer. The urge to place his hand on her shoulder was overwhelming. He very lightly reached up with his right hand and carefully cupped his hand over her shoulder. Her shoulder fit perfectly within his hand.

He laid for a while with his hand on her shoulder, until he could feel her turn towards him. He quickly withdrew his hand. She sighed heavily and her breath caught and she snorted a little. While the sound initially caught him off guard when he first slept with her, he became used to her doing it by now and even thought it was cute.

He raised his hand and carefully ran the back of his finger on her right cheekbone. He looked at every line and contour on her face. Her face was just as beautiful when she slept as when she was awake.

"Hummmmmmm", she sighed.

His eyes next looked to her ruby lips and he became interested in the little indentation under her nose. He dared to place his finger on that spot. His finger seemed to fit perfectly into the little indentation. Suddenly her lips moved and pursed as if to kiss his finger. The sudden motion caused him to quickly withdraw.

Diaval, what on earth are you doing? You know she will be furious if she caught you. Why do you do this to yourself. You could never be with such an extraordinary woman. You are just a bird that serves her...nothing more. But he started to dwell on the possibility of a friendship with her.

He softly whispered to her face, "My dearest Maleficent, I want to be your friend, I want to be more than your friend, if you will let me."

In her sleep, he could hear Maleficent whisper back, "Friend...More."

Diaval couldn't help but smile at her unconcious remark and he laid back down on the bed and turned his face towards hers. He studied every inch of the side of her face. He then looked over at her right ear which gracefully came to a point. Even her ears are lovely, he thought to himself before he drifted off to sleep.

Maleficent woke up before Diaval early the next morning. She found herself turned towards him and her hand was lying on his chest. She had a puzzled look on her face wondering why she would always wake up and be in some kind of contact with Diaval.

She looked up and studied his face as he laid beside her. She seemed to become more and more facinated with his scars and she began to find them attractive. His shirt was more open than usual and she could clearly see the scars that traced out his collar bones in the morning light. She lifted her hand and began to run her finger across the scar on his right collarbone and went across his neck to his left collar bone. As she past his neck. She could hear his breathing change and was hesitant to continue, but she had to run her finger down the one large scar that ran down his chest to his stomach. That scar was the largest and thickest. She followed the scar all the way down with her finger.

"I don't know why, but I just love the way his scars feel below my fingers," she thought to herself. But then she had another thought. "Mal, don't do this, don't get involved, you are going to get hurt again." But she didn't stop. She continued to run her finger back up his stomach and chest running back out his right collarbone. She let her fingers run out and curl under his shirt and her fingers wrapped around his shoulder. Her body was leaning across his and their faces were very close together.

"Hmmmm, he has nice sized shoulders." she thought to herself. She raised an eyebrow and curled her lips.

She looked towards his face and began to study his features, his nose, his eyes, and particularly his mouth. A sudden urge started to build within her and she felt her lips moving closer to his. Then she suddenly pulled back.

"No No No! What is the matter with you, Mal! You can't do this!" she said to herself. "Getting frustrated with her feelings, she grabbed his shoulder a bit tighter and she formed a fist with her other hand. She then stifled an "Uhhhhhhhhhh" , but prehaps it still was louder than it should have been.

Diaval's eyes flew open to the unsettling sound to find his mistress leaning over him with one hand clenched and the other was on his shoulder. Her face was inches from his and he was staring into her beautiful yellow/green eyes.

"Mistress?" He questioned with a puzzled look on his face as to why she was leaning over him.

She was startled that she woke him and quickly she attempted to recover from the situation she was caught in.

"Oh, Oh...Ummmm, I was just reaching over to check on your arm." she said having a look on her face as if she did something wrong.

With still a puzzled look on his face, he asked. "Mistress, it looked like you were angry at first, I hope you are not angry with me."

"No, it wasn't you, I was just thinking of something." she replied.

"Well, whatever it was it looked like it made you mad. Do you want to talk about it?"

Maleficent dipped her head down, "No Diaval, I don't."

"Ok, good morning then", he said cordially.

Her face softened and she replied in the same manner "And a good morning to you Diaval. Let me have a look at that arm."

"Sure", Diaval took his arm out of his sleeve.

Maleficent looked at his arm and it appeared to have healed nicely. She ran her fingers over the spot where the break was which was right at the indentation at the base of his shoulder. Suddenly the feeling of the contours of his arm under her fingers began to feel good. Her face contorted to what she was feeling. Diaval was even more puzzled by the look in her eyes now as she was looking over his arm.

"Is something wrong with my arm," Diaval asked.

His voice snapped her out of it and she dropped his arm to the bed.

"No, nothing. It is fine...healed nicely." she said in a slightly scared voice.

Again, her response there was that look as if she did something wrong.

Diaval thought to himself. That was weird. First I awaken with her face nearly on top of mine and she appeared angry and she had her hand gripping my shoulder. Then when she looks at my arm and the way she ran her fingers over it. Hmmmm. I don't know. He shook it off.

She looked back up to him and said, "You rest up here and I will get breakfast ready."

He always enjoyed having any kind of meal with his mistress. Lately they had been becoming more frequent and they also talked more and more over a meal. Mostly it was over news about the castle or Aurora. Diaval didn't look at his mistress as only a master anymore, but also as a friend. But he wasn't sure if she would ever feel the same way about him.

Heh, it was preposterous for him to think that of her. Given her mood swings of late were becoming difficult to handle. One day she was nice to him, the next day she would snap at him and turn him into something unpleasant. He didn't know what to make of what was going on inside of his mistress, but he could tell there was some kind of storm she was fighting within her.

For the next couple weeks, Diaval had aced flying around as a Dragon. He felt very confident and strong when he was the dragon. And soon the awkwardness of his large size turned into prescision and grace. By the end of the second week, he was starting to do acrobatics and tried to show off in front of Maleficent.

"Remember Diaval, keep low, not like the last time you spiraled up too high. At that height you might be seen".

Diaval grunted and nodded, 'yes'.

"Now do a few laps of figure 8's and keep your turns tight"

With that he dove off the cliff and made his figure 8's perfectly. But then Diaval got bored of this quickly and wanted to do something else. He pumped his wings hard and shot around the last part of a turn and swung up and headed straight for the cliff where Maleficent was. He then twisted his wings tightly opposite each other and then pulled all his limbs in, folding his wings and then barrel rolled twice. When he sank towards the cliff he unfurled his wings and straightened out, pulling back to brake himself and then settled down right at the edge of the cliff in front of his mistress.

Maleficent put her hands on her hips. "Are you displaying for me again, Diaval?"

Diaval nodded his head down, and then twisted his head sideways and wanted to say, "Rwow!", but this inadvertantly caused a reflex action in his throat and he found he spit up a fireball that plowed straight into the woods, causing a blaze.

"Diaval! No fire!"

Quickly Maleficent changed Diaval into a bird and then a man.

Diaval had a stunned look on his face as he watched the blaze burning.

"I am going to have a word with you later about this, Diaval," she said, "But for now, I have to get this fire out".

"It was an..." Diaval was interupted.

"Not another word!" she said crossly.

Maleficent raced to the edge of the forest and created a storm cloud above the affected area. Quickly a downpour started and within less than a minute she had the fire out. She then turned back to Diaval.

"Are you out of your mind!" She gritted her teeth. "We will be seen by one those...humans!"

"I'm sorry my mistress, I just wanted to make a rrrwow sound in approval to what you said about my display and it came out wrong and it caught in my throat. I just spit up by mistake and out came that fireball."

"You have to be more careful! Now lets get out of here in case someone investigates."

The two walked very fast back to Dragon Claw castle and ducked out there.

"I am going to change you to your raven form, and after I do, circle around the woods for a while and let me know if you see anything...unusual." Maleficent whispered. "Meet me back at the Rowan Tree."

"Yes, mistress."

With a flick of her wrist and some yellow whisps, he was his raven self. He cawed a couple of times.

"Shhhhhh!" Maleficent put a finger over her mouth.

Diaval flew off in the direction of the woods. The area that he burned earlier was still smoking from the heat, but the fire was indeed fully out. Diaval circled around the area widening his turn with each pass. From the look of it, it didn't appear they were seen. A wagon was passing on the road and Diaval took perch in a tree that was by the side of the road. He could overhear conversation about smelling something burning and the humans in the wagon stopped and looked over to the south forest, but after a short while they resumed their trip.

I guess that was a close call, Diaval thought to himself. He then flew off and checked up and down the road, there didn't seem to be anyone else out at this time of night. With that he flew back to the Moors and back to the Rowan Tree.

"Robin, I think I am ready. I don't know how I am going to make this a surprise for her. But I want to do this when she will make me the dragon again." Diaval said.

"Well, that might be cutting it close as we do have to make some kind of support, seat or harness...something she can strap herself down with so she could ride with you safely. But how do we do this without her knowing?" Robin asked.

The two kicked around a few ideas but then finally settled on something.

"Robin, I think you are on to something here", Diaval said. "What if you built the harness here on the Moors with the other faeries. On the next night I am the dragon, I will fly back to the clearing where I initially was the horse. Once I arrive you and the other faeries could put the harness on my back. It will certainly take a while for Maleficent to walk back here and there should be plenty time to pull it off."

"You DO know you will be in serious trouble with her, right? Robin said as a matter of factly.

"Yes, I am willing to take that risk. She hasn't flown for 16 years now. I think once she sees the harness and our intentions...I think I will be good. But she HAS to see the harness at once she gets sight of me, otherwise she might change me into something else and that would be awkward at best with me wearing it."

"I guess I would have to try and stop her if that's the case", Robin said. "Ok, then it is settled. The next time she changes you into a dragon, you will glide low and fly into the Moors. She will follow and in that time we can put the harness on you."

"That's the plan."

"Perfect!" Robin shouted with a smile shaking his fist. "I think it will work"

"As do I", Diaval agreed."

Two nights later at the south clearing Maleficent wanted Diaval to practice some more banking and turning. So he went out and came back twice. The third time out he thought to himself, "Here we go!"

Coming back, he made like he was going to do his barrel roll landing for Maleficent, but instead he just swung up and over her and made a quick turn towards Dragon Claw castle.

He kept thinking to himself, Please be out of range, Please be out of range. The last thing he needed was to be in range and she changed him back into a bird. As he headed towards the castle, he could faintly hear Maleficent scream out "Diaval! What the hell are you doing? Get back here!" Then there were some other choice words that he couldn't make out.

Diaval kept to the east side of Dragon Claw Castle so Maleficent could see that he was going to touch down into the Moors. He kept himself low as he flew over the thorn wall and into the clearing within the Moors. There he touched down.

Robin came out of the wooded area with a bunch of other fae folk as they carried the completed harness to Diaval.

Robin said, "Good evening Diaval!"

Diaval nodded his head and grunted.

"You certainly make a fine looking dragon and those wings are incredible!"

Diaval grunted again.

"Good thing is I get to see you fly tonight WITH Maleficent. I sure do want to see the look on her face when you get airborne with her."

Robin then turned to the other fae folk and said, "Ok, we have no time to loose. Maleficent will be here soon and most likely she will be stark raving mad too. I am going to have to scout ahead and hopefully she will not turn me into anything unpleasant."

Robin flew to the south side of the clearing and waited for Maleficent's arrival.

After a good while, Robin's wait was over, he could hear the thorn branches moving on the outer part of the wall. Quickly he flew back to Diaval and the fae folk. He saw that they had finished placing the flying harness on Diaval, everyone was in place and in position.

"Oh, thank goodness you are done." he exclaimed and then gave Diaval and the other faeries two thumbs up. "Let's do this!" Robin flew off back to the thorn wall.

Diaval grunted and nodded his head indicating he was ready too. He angled his body in such a way as to make sure Maleficent would see the harness. He dipped his left wing down to the ground to further show the contraption. He thought, "I hope she has her night vision on."

Robin's red glow traced down towards the south side of the clearing. Diaval could see movement in the wall himself. She was coming.

As expected, Maleficent exited the wall and had a seething look on her face. Her head was low and she was showing her teeth in pure anger.

Robin quickly said, "Please, my lady, don't turn me into anything, I will explain."

"Explain What?!" She snapped. She was infuriated. "Was this your idea?" She stopped and started to raise her hand as if to get ready to cast a spell.

"No, No, No, this was all Diaval's idea."

She put her arm down "We will see about that!" she snapped again and then marched towards Diaval.

When she was in voice shot, she yelled up at him "You have some helluva nerve to fly HERE into the Moors. What if one of Stefan's goons saw this, it would ruin ev..." she was interrupted by Robin's red glow forcing her eyes towards the harness that was strapped at the junction between Diavals neck and back.

Her voice calmed down as she walked over and looked at the contraption on Diaval's back. At first she thought it might have been some kind of weapon. But she knew he breathed fire and was not in need of such a thing.

"What's this?" she said, puzzled.

"It is for you, my lady", Robin said proudly, bowing before Maleficent.

Maleficent had a dumbfounded look on her face. She walked closer to the harness. When she saw the seat, straps and reins that ran out to a collar on Diavals neck it hit her like a ton of bricks. The anger melted from her face and she had a very soft look.

"Oh...Oh My word! Robin? Did you?"

"No, my lady, as I said, this was all Diaval's idea. He wanted to do something special for you. His whole being a dragon was because he wanted you to fly again. So, my lady, tonight you fly!"

She looked to Diaval's face and he winked at her.

Robin said, "I believe it is best we leave you two alone now". Robin waved to the other fae creatures that helped him and they all disappeared into the forest. Robin did however want to see Diaval fly and he hid behind tree near the edge of the clearing.

"Diaval...I...I", she stuttered. She walked up to his lowered wing, and rubbed the front edge as she did the first night he was transformed into the dragon. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and her knees began to buckle. An overwhelming feeling came over her as she rested her face against his wing.

Diaval lowered his body and placed his left claw near the harness as a foot hold for her to climb on.

She stood up and said with her voice quavering, "Oh! Diaval, words cannot express what I am feeling now." A single tear ran down her face from each eye and she turned away for a moment. She slowly approached his claw and tried to stifle her tears when she climbed into the seat.

Robin flew over and explained the harness to Maleficent and how everything worked. Malficent had a difficult time keeping her composure as she was overwhelmed by the thought of being able to fly again after so long. One strap went across her waist and two more criss crossed over her shoulders and went back down to the harness. Her legs draped down on either side of the base of Diaval's neck. After settling in place, she took the reins and wrapped one around each wrist. He explained how the reins worked too as he put together a simple system. Pull left to go left, right to go right, both to go up, relax both to go down.

"I don't believe this is going to happen", Maleficent said to herself. "I have not taken to the air since I had my own wings over 16 years ago."

She let out a couple deep breaths and her voice quavered when spoke up and said, "Ok, Diaval, I am ready"

Diaval turned around to get more room and spread his large wings.

Maleficent was very impressed to be sitting in between those massive wings as she looked down the length of each wing in turn her body began to tremble.

"Diaval!" She called up to him.

"Huuuuhhh?" he grunted as if he said, 'yes'.

"Remember to fly low and head to the cliff"

"Lets fly!"

Diaval pushed down twice really hard and they lurched off the ground.

"Oh!" Maleficent was a bit surprised at the sudden lurch in take off.

A couple more beats of his wings and they started to move forward.

"Oh, yeah!" Maleficent shouted out as they picked up speed and the ground fell below her.

Robin looked on as the two took off, "Now that's my girl", tears started to fall from his eyes. A nearby water faerie handed him a leaf to wipe his tears. He said to her, "You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment...to see Malficent fly again."

They reached the cliff and the clearing in no time and he dove down past the cliff.

Maleficent saw Diaval look back towards her and she smiled. He smiled back.

"Go a little faster Diaval!", she shouted.

He pumped his wings a bit harder and they started going faster. Maleficent looked down as they neared the ground and Diaval banked into a turn.

"Wonderful!", she shouted with a smile. "Again, another pass, over the trees!"

He banked up and then coasted right above the tree tops. Maleficent grabed both reins in her left hand and did a fist pump in the air with her right hand. "Wooo Hooo!" she yelled out.

Diaval looked back at his mistress having a great time on his back and a tear came to his eye.

While the night vision spell worked great, Maleficent couldn't help to think what it would be like to see the countryside and also the Moors in the daytime. But she knew this would be impossible as long as Stefan was alive. She hoped for the day she would be able to do this in broad daylight. For now though, she revelled in the moment of being able to fly again. She closed her eyes and felt the air rush by her face much the same way when she used to fly into a headwind.

"Oh! How I missed this so", she thought to herself. She could feel her eyes well up once again.

They flew around the south clearing and Dragon's Claw castle for what seemed like about an hour. Diaval let out a grunt.

"Diaval, what is the matter?"

He tossed a nod back towards his wings.

"Oh! You are tired and want to land?"

He nodded yes.

"Ok, land on the cliff."

They circled around one more time and Diaval put his claws out and pulled his wings back to come in for a landing. He maticulously adjusted his wings for a feather touch landing.

"Wonderful landing, Diaval! Wonderful flying!" Maleficent shouted as she undid the straps on the harness and got out. She then removed the harness from his back.

She waved her hand once and he shrunk back down into a raven and then again to change him into a man.

"Did you enjoy your flight, my mistress?" Diaval asked he breathed a bit heavy, being out of breath from flying so long.

"Diaval..." she paused as she reached for both of his hands and then wrapped her fingers around his. "Th... Tha... That was the best gift anyone could have given me. Thank you! Thank You a hundred times Thank You", with each 'thank you' her fingers squeezed harder. She leaned forward and tilted her head down until their foreheads touched.

Diaval looked at her forehead and resisted the urge to kiss her there. No Diaval don't do it. Not without her permission. He was going to ask, but then the words came out differently.

"May I give you a hug, my mistress?"

"Yes, you may. Tonight you earned it"

He wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

This was the happiest he had seen his mistress in the whole time he was in service to her.


	11. Chapter 11: Maleficent's New Dress

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 11 Maleficent's New Dress

The months past quickly and it was just 2 weeks before Aurora's 16th birthday and the 3 faeries in the cottage were gloating at what a successful job they did at hiding Aurora from Maleficent the past 16 years. But little did they know that Maleficent knew of their location right from day one. The faeries finally got the knack of properly caring for Aurora in the latter years. They managed to keep a tidy home and even could cook on their own. For the most part all Maleficent and Diaval had to do was to keep watch.

Of course when Maleficent accompanied Diaval, she would quickly get bored and play some shennigans on the 3 faeries. Today was no different when she decided to make their teapot explode and that had them running around the cottage like chickens without heads.

"It never gets old", she would say.

"Oh, my mistress, you certaily are evil." he would say shaking his head.

"Come, now Diaval, have some fun!" she always said.

But what was more interesting about these shennigans was that Diaval got to see the largest smiles and heartiest laughs come from Maleficent. And every time she laughed, she became more and more beautiful to him. He even wondered if it was just him, or was she actually getting more beautiful as the years passed. She had a tendency to arch her shoulders forward when she laughed hard and Diaval thought this was cute and attractive. There were times he couldn't look her in the face for fear of that dangerous feeling he would get between his legs, which was happening far too often in the past month. He feared if the feeling went too far and she would notice it, he would be beside himself in embarassment and fear. So he would turn away and try not to look. But at least once Maleficent had noticed this.

"Diaval, I have noticed lately that many times I am speaking to you and you turn away, or your eyes wander. You no longer look at me straight in the eyes anymore." she asked. "Why is that?"

"I don't know, it isn't intentional and I mean you no disrespect, mistress."

"Oh...but still, I would like you to look me in the face when you speak to me.", she stated.

"Yes, my mistress."

Maleficent thought to herself. "He is becoming disgusted with me, it has been too long. I know I will have to free him soon. He doesn't want to even look at me any more. He is probably sick of seeing my face every day. The closer the days get to the curse's fulfillment the more anxious he is getting. He knows I am going to free him and he probably can't wait to get away from me.

"I don't know what has come over me either. I don't _want_ to free him. My selfish feelings that want me to keep him my confidant forever are very strong. I don't _want_ to let him go. I certainly will miss my dragon flights with him the most. But he has done his duty and he has done it well. But I know he will not stay. Why? I have already held him against his will. Plus I have a stone wall around my heart and I can never love. He would have an awful life if I kept him in my service forever. I still have a heart towards animals and faeries and I don't want to keep a free spirit against their will. When the curse is fulfilled and/or when Stefan is dead I MUST let him go."

In the past year Diaval could tell there was some kind of bond forming between Aurora and Maleficent and he found the two together often as Maleficent kept showing her new things around the Moors. Aurora enjoyed playing with the other faeries as well. Maleficent's countenance had grown very soft lately especially when she was around Aurora.

Since that first sleep over, Aurora requested many more. But Diaval grew weary of sleeping on the floor. Maleficent fixed up the old nest she used to sleep in when she was a child and ran a ladder up to it from her bedroom. It was big enough for the three to lay down in with plenty room to spare and it offered a spectacular view of the night sky. That year the summer was particularly hot and the large open nest offered much needed breezes at night.

Aurora was turning out to be a well rounded young woman as the faeries taught her how to cook and clean too. She would even pass this information to Diaval would watch carefully at how she would cook and he get some ideas for making new meals for Maleficent and himself as well.

Aurora also had the knack for making clothes and would make herself some nice outfits and show them off to Maleficent. Since Maleficent also made her own clothes, the two had much to talk about in terms of 'Moors Fashions'.

"Faerie Godmother, how come you don't have anything light to wear in this heat. Don't you have anything sleeveless or legless for that matter." she asked. "All you have are robes. While a couple are light, it is just too hot to have something so 'drapy'.

"It usually was never this hot and I would always find a breeze someplace. I also cool off at the watering hole. But I do admit this year the summer is particularly bad and even wearing light robes isn't keeping me cool." Maleficent said.

"Couldn't you alter the weather with your magic so it could rain and cool things off?" Aurora asked.

"Yes, I could, but it does interfere with the nature of things. I learned the hard way when I was growing up that too much of something isn't good, especially when mucking about with nature. I already conjured up two rainstorms this week. I don't want to over do it. Unfortunately the heat wave has to run it's course.

"I know! Let me make a summer dress for you!", she said.

"You want to do what?

"Let me make you a dress", Aurora repeated.

"No, Beastie, you don't have to." Maleficent waved her hand.

"I insist. Trust me, it will be very nice."

"Ok, if you insist Beastie." She replied.

Malficent pulled some of her older robes out to give Aurora something to work with.

"I don't wear any of these anymore. You can use these."

Aurora had a big smile on her face when Maleficent gave her the robes and she seemed very eager to make her Faerie Godmother a new summer dress. On subsequent visits Aurora would bring some sewing supplies to the Rowan Tree, and would toil away in the lower back room of Maleficent's home.

Soon the dress was done, and Aurora gave it to Maleficent. She took a good look at Aurora's handiwork and was impressed and shocked at the same time.

"Oh, my Beastie, your work is grand," she said.

"Thank you Faerie Godmother, it was pleasure to make it for you." Aurora beamed.

"But I never wore anything with that much skin exposed especially outside on the moors. I'm afraid I might look...goofy."

"Oh, no you will not, I think you will look beautiful!"

"Thank you again, Beastie, but..."

"But nothing, Faerie Godmother, it will keep you cooler in the heat. Please put it on, I want to see."

"Assertive little beastie, aren't you."

Maleficent went to the other room and put on the dress. She took a good look at herself.

The dress was predominately green and had gold accents that went down the shoulder straps and neckline. The neckline dipped down in a heart shaped 'v'that got dangerously close to her cleavage. The sleeves had shoulder cutouts that dipped down to just about the mid part of her upper arm. This also had gold trim around it and framed out her shoulders nicely. The sleeves were made of a semi sheer lace that was green with gold accents forming a flower pattern down the sleeves. The lower part of the sleeves tapered out in a bell like shape to the end of her wrists. The bell shape was skewed to favor the back of the arm and ended in a point. The bell sleeves were split starting inside of the elbow and went down the entire length. With her arms down, the sleeves covered her forearms. When she raised her forearms they would be exposed and the sleeves would drape down off her elbow.

The bodice area had a sewn in brown and gold spiraling pattern that followed the 'v' contour and ended at the waist where the skirt portion of the dress started. The top edge of the v contour had some small jewels from the jewel pond sewn into the fabric as accents.

The back of the dress had a much smaller v that dipped down slightly below her neck. But the lower section of the dress had a large diamond shape that formed an upside down v going up her back. Aurora was very careful in making sure that her wing stumps remained concealed. Still Maleficent was concered about the large area of her lower back being exposed.

The lower skirt part of the dress was very wavy and flowing with both opaque and a lace material. The skirt part covered the legs asymetrically. The green opaque material covered her right leg and stopped just above the knee. On the left side this material ran up her right leg to nearly the top of the thigh. Lace draped down and around the whole skirt portion of the dress in a very flowing and wavy manner.

Around the waist was a brown tie belt that brought the waist in when tied. She tied it around her waist in a loose knot so that the belt draped down the front of the skirt.

The entire dress was very light and airy and felt extremely comfortable even in the heat.

Like a little girl, Maleficent twirled around in the dress and then proceeded to go back to Aurora.

"Oh, my goodness!" Aurora exclaimed. "It came out better than I thought."

"Thank you, Beastie." she said while looking herself over. "It DOES feels great and it is much cooler than my other robes. You did a fine job!"

"You're Welcome."

"So tell me, how did you learn to do this?" Maleficent asked. "This work rivals my own and I use magic to help me."

"Books! My aunts have lots of books on how to do things. I found several patterns I liked and I took bits and pieces from the patterns and came up with that." Aurora stated pointing at the dress.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Aurora exclaimed. "Please kneel down. With your horns you are really tall."

"Over 7 feet, actually, but why?"

"I have something for you to wear on your horns."

Maleficent got down on one knee and dipped her head towards Aurora. On each horn Aurora placed a little band that had a jewel from the jewel pool sewn into it.

She then pulled out a small tiara that was made from specially curved tree branches that formed a similar v shape as the neckline of the dress. In the center was another jewel. This hooked around the base of her horns and hung down her forehead.

"Done! Now that is fitting for the Queen of the Moors", Aurora said.

Aurora took Maleficent's hand and lead her outside and there happened to be a large puddle that formed by the base of the Rowan Tree during the last rain.

"Go on", Aurora said, "Look at yourself."

Maleficent approached the puddle very slowly and gradually her whole form appeared in the water's reflection.

Her reflection stunned her at first as she thought she was seeing an image of her younger self when she was more carefree at a time when she was with Stefan at around her 16th birthday. She started to turn and check herself out in the reflection turning to look at how her arms looked with them up and down. She turned around and saw the large cutout exposing her lower back. She pulled her hair over her shoulder to get a better look at her back. She clearly wasn't used to having this much of her skin showing and did feel a bit awkward. But even standing in the direct heat of the sun, the dress was much lighter than her others and it felt very comfortable. A welcoming breeze blew by and the lower skirt part of her dress blew out and to the side, and exposed a bit of her legs.

Aurora looked on and hopped and clapped jovially when the breeze blew. She was clearly impressed with both her own handiwork and how it looked on her Faerie Godmother.

Maleficent did like the dress, but she was a bit scared to wear something like that outside.

"You sure, I don't look goofy in this?" she asked while nervously pulling on a lock of her hair.

"No! You look fabulous Faerie Godmother!"

She looked at her reflection again and then a smile came to her face and she finally said, "It IS lovely. Again, Thank You, Beastie."

She walked back to Aurora and a sudden feeling came over her and she was compelled to kiss Aurora on the forehead. But instead she just reached out her hand and both of their fingers meshed. Maleficent started to think. Why is she doing this? She made this for me. For an instant, Maleficent started to get second thoughts about the curse she placed on her. But then she quickly shook it off.

The watering hole and the mud bog became favorite spots on the very hot days. Mud fights were a regular event on the moors as a way of keeping cool. But today Diaval was having fun with Aurora and he would always dive in. It was a contest between Diaval and Aurora as to who would make the biggest mud splash. Aurora tried to convince Maleficent to participate, but being who she is, Maleficent never participated. She would stay far back either leaning up against a tree or even sitting in a tree just watching the chaos unfold in the mud bog. Every so often she did laugh, but it was upsetting Robin that she wasn't participating.

"Oh, come now, my lady. Have a little fun and cool off a bit." he yelled over to her.

Maleficent laid against a tree in the shade and even though she had her lightest robe on, beads of sweat were forming on her forehead. She had her sleeves rolled up, but wasn't getting much relief. Her arms were glistening from perspiration. She even adopted an unladylike position and had her legs spread out in a 'v' on the ground. She had a canteen of water nearby, but in the heat the water got warm fast. While she could heat things up with her powers, making things cool was something she couldn't do. In the winters she could manipulate the ice and snow, but she couldn't create cold as she could with heat.

Aurora was wearing a summer mini halter dress that she made earlier in the season. She had her arms and legs exposed. It had a mini pleated skirt that ran around her waist. The predominately light brown dress came up to about mid thighs on her, from her neck to midway down, her back was exposed. By now her dress was completely covered in mud and only her face was exposed and that too had mud splashings on it.

Diaval was wearing something similar to what he normally wears, but lighter and it was more a greenish brown than his regular black. His pants were shorter exposing his legs from the knees down. But his outfit too was covered in mud and he matched Aurora in look.

"I am fine, Robin", Maleficent yelled out.

"My lady," Robin sounded pleading as he could see Maleficent was drooping and practically melting in front of him, "I can see the beads of sweat running down the sides of your face. You must be horribly uncomfortable. Just join us in the mud, it seems to be the only thing out here that is cool."

She didn't answer and then she picked up an apple hoping it would be somewhat refreshing to eat, but it too was warm on the inside. After finishing it halfway, she thought to herself, "The heat normally doesn't bother me, but today is very bad. Maybe I should change into that new outfit Aurora made. That certainly is much lighter...it is just that I feel weird in it. What if they laugh?"

She looked out to the mud bog and everyone was cool and having fun. "I can't take this heat, I am going back home." she said. But with everyone making so much noise, Robin was the only one close enough to hear.

"Ok, my lady", Robin said and then he flew back into the bog. The stone faeries were getting hot too and they were just coming into the bog and rolled right into the mud.

Diaval climbed up on to the large rock in the middle of the bog. "Here comes a big splash...BEWARE!" With that he jumped up and curled up into a ball and plopped right into the mud creating a ripple wave that slammed into Aurora and caused a splash that hit her in the face.

"Diaval! You got me in the face!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry, Aurora, I was getting overzealous with my mud splashing skills." he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, watch THESE skills!", she exlaimed. She cupped her hand and pulled her arm way back and then pushed forward with all her might. Then ensuing action caused a wave spout to spray forward and it went up and landed smack in Diaval's face.

Robin and the other faeries laughed.

One of the wallerbogs motioned to the tree and a water faerie said, "She's gone."

Robin looked up and confirmed. He shook his head, "She said she was going back home. Party pooper!"

"Aurora, darling," Robin said,

"Yes"

"I am going to have a private word with Diaval for a moment."

"Ok!"

He pulled Diaval aside behind a rock, as Aurora was pushing some mud around with the wallerbogs on the other side of the bog.

"Maleficent would have been in here with us, but then that Stefan came along and at first she ignored us, then Stefan did 'his deed' and then she get's all bent on being evil and loaded with hatred and rage." Robin explained. "Here we are all having fun and all she does is sit there and deprive herself of the fun."

"Well, Robin, I have seen Maleficent have fun, but usually it was at the expense of someone else, such as the three faeries that are raising Aurora in the woods." He recalled, "And there was that one time when she got splashed with some mud. I ended up laughing and she tossed a huge mudball at me."

"No, no, Diaval, you are missing the point." Robin corrected as he took a seat on the rock, "She used to sit right here in the middle of the mud with us. The things she did with her magic in the mud were unbelievable."

Robin went on and discussed the numberous things that Maleficent did with the fae folk when they had hot days in the summer. She built mud slides, made mud sprinklers and did many other neat tricks to keep the faeries cool on hot days. Diaval's eyes widened in wonder at picturing all of what Robin said she could do.

"Oh, and don't get me started on the watering hole. That was always her favorite spot and the games we used to play there." Robin sat for a while and Diaval could see a tear roll down one eye.

"I miss my girl, _my_ Maleficent. The old Maleficent I used to have so much fun with." More tears came down his eyes."

"Robin, don't get upset", Diaval said as he grabbed a small leaf nearby and handed it to Robin so he could wipe his tears. "It isn't your fault the way she is. She was hurt badly".

Robin looked out to Aurora playing with the wallerbogs, and then he choked back his tears and practically yelled out, "Now, my lady is nothing but a stick in the mud."

Yeah, she should have some more fun _with_ us. Diaval noticed a branch that was poking out of the mud and he went over to it. It went against his better judgement as a gentleman, but he wanted to cheer Robin up. So he pulled it out of the ground and then rammed it right into the mud. "A stick in the mud, like that, huh?"

Robin, cracked a smile and said, "Yep, that is about it."

Diaval noticed the stick he pushed into the mud had one branch that came down in much the way an arm would and it terminated in a group of four branches that resembled fingers. Then Diaval got an idea that would put Robin in stitches. He got down on one knee and raised the part of the branch that had the four branches. He reached down and kissed the junction of the four branches and then with his other hand, he waved down in a royal manner, "What may be your bidding, Madam Meany."

"Ohhhh HO HO HA HA HA!" Robin just busted out laughing and began to roll around on the rock. "Madam Meany! That is a good one Diaval!"

Some of the water faeries that were helping make the mud with the wallerbogs, overheard Diaval and also joined into the laughter.

All of a sudden a familiar woman's voice boomed out across the bog,

"How dare you all!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and all heads turned in the direction the voice was coming from. Diaval whipped around and looked too.

Standing on a lower rock next to the one that Robin was laying on was Maleficent. She was wearing a dress no one had seen before. Upon site of her in the new dress, Diaval's eyes widened and he could feel his heart start to race.

Robin got a good look as well and then said, "Oh...my...gosh...that dress!"

Diaval got a good look at Maleficent's new dress. He started looking at her from her feet up, her feet were bare but had some mud on them from when she walked up on the rock. The lace part of the skirt layed to one side exposing her left leg right up to the thigh. Continuing up, a brown belt cinched his Mistress's waistline in further enhancing her already attractive hourglass shape. Moving further up on the dress, he was drawn to the plunging v neckline. She had her hands on her waist, the laced sleeves draped down from the elbows. He then focused on the gold trimmed shoulder cutouts which framed each shoulder out perfectly.

Her hair was tied back in a high pony tail that came up behind her horns and draped down her back. Her hair was completely pulled back away from her face. Jewels and a tiara adorned her horns and forehead.

Needless to say, Diaval found his mistress to be rather 'hot' looking as Robin would put it.

Her head was tipped forward and her meancing eyes were staring him down in that all too familiar way he remembered when he was about to be in big trouble. And this time he knew this time he was in trouble in more ways than one.

After looking at his mistress' new dress. He immiately felt a tingle rush between his legs. It was like before, but this time much more intense. He could feel himself getting larger immediately.

Maleficent shifted her weight on the leg that was covered by the dress. This made the other leg poke it's way out of the sheer part of the skirt even more.

She moved her arms across her chest and her hands fell on her upper arms below the shoulder cutouts. Her noticed the muscles in her forearm twitching as she drummed the fingers on her right hand on her left arm. She really looked great.

Diaval could feel himself stiffen and start to push into his pants. He tried to turn, but slipped on the mud and he fell down crashing into the stick he had driven into the mud just moments before. While he felt awkward falling like that, it was for the best because he was sitting up in the mud which ran part way up his abdomen. Sitting like this, she couldn't see what was going on below his waistline.

Her eyes darted to Robin, "A stick in the mud?"

Then her eyes shot back at Diaval, "Madam Meany?"

Robin blurted out, "Oh, Sugar Honey Iced Tea."

"You got that right", Maleficent said.

One of the male water faeries flew over and wanted to complement Maleficent's new summer look. He bowed his head and said, "My lady, you look...

"Like a fool." Maleficent interrupted and finished the sentence.

"So you all want to take me for a fool and laugh and joke about me behind my back?" she yelled out.

A bunch of hushed "No's" rang out from the gathering of faeries and creatures.

As Diaval was sitting in the mud, he could feel that he was fully erect and secretly he had been trying to adjust himself to a more comfortable position. The feeling was unbearable and with his mistress being angry that made the entire situation feel worse. But for some reason he just kept his eyes trained on his mistress's arms and neck area. The new dress showcased her arms and neck beautifully and he had trouble taking his eyes off them.

She snapped her head back to look at Diaval. "So I am Madam Meany, huh?" "SO BE IT!", she snarled.

With that she swung both arms to one side and then shot them both in front. A green glow came out from her fingers and shot down in front of her and it rose up and created a tidal wave of mud that rose up above the rock that Robin was sitting on.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!", Robin exclaimed as he tried his best to fly away from the climbing wall of mud.

Maleficent pulled her forearms back and then shot them forward. The wave of mud slammed down over the rock. Robin just escaped as the wave of mud continued on towards Diaval.

Diaval felt helpless as he wanted to run, but at the same time he knew she would then see him in his current condition. He just ducked down further into the mud and curled forward, hoping for the best as the wall of mud slammed into him. The force of the mud lifted him up and he slid all the way to where Aurora was. As the mud came towards her, she jumped up and out of the way. The wallerbogs just simply dove under the mud.

When the mud subsided, Diaval found himself in the shallows of the bog. He quickly scrambled behind a nearby rock so no one would see. He was covered head to toe in mud. Aurora was about to come to his aid, but she looked up and that got Diaval's attention. He turned around to find Maleficent marching straight for him. With her arms down, the sleeves covered her forearms.

She stood in front of Diaval and again stood like she did on the rock before with her arms on her side and leaning on one leg as before. Her bare leg was within a couple feet from his face. Diaval noticed that since the last time he saw her bare leg this close that her leg appeared to be a bit larger and more defined now. Her thigh flexed a bit as she leaned down towards his face.

"You! You were always a gentleman. And now you dishonor me with your disrespect", she yelled. For a split second her anger turned to a frown and her bottom lip quivered as almost if she was ready to cry. But then her face turned angry again and her hand whipped forward and she gave Diaval a slap across the face.

"This time, I _know_ what I am going to do to you", she said menacingly.

She flicked her wrist and said, "Into a frog." Diaval shrank down and found himself a very fat black frog that had small feathers on his brows. He had very long folded legs and his mouth ran from one side of his face to the other.

Maleficent crouched down closer to his face and said nonchalantly, "Hop Toad!"

As she leaned forward, her hair fell forward across her shoulder.

With that she proceeded to walk off. As she walked away Diaval could see the sleeves trail down just behind her hands. Then he focused on the large cutout on her back. Not only did she look great from the front, but also the back. He couldn't move from his spot. He never was a frog before and the long gangly legs were completely foreign to him. He was covered in a slimy substance that made him even more uncomfortable.

Diaval then saw Robin fly by and chased after Maleficent.

Robin flew in front of Maleficent forcing her to stop and said, "Change him back now, my lady." He said angrily, "This wasn't his fault, it was mine. We were just joking. I was upset and he wanted to cheer me up."

"Oh, I appreciate your honesty, but I don't appreciate your disrespect AND tone of voice either."

She continued, pointing at the exposed area on her chest. "I give the orders around here", she flicked her wrist and said, "Into a firefly." With that Robin found he was floating in mid air with his butt glowing. She started to walk off, but then turned around clenching her hands into fists, "And don't you forget that!"

"Faerie Godmother. Please...Stop this! They were only having fun and didn't mean it. They were just upset because you don't want to come in and have fun with us. Robin said you used to do so in the past."

"Wallowing in the mud bog is no place for me, Beastie. And it appears I was right, everyone must think I look ridiculous in this. I could see them all gawking at me."

"No, not so. I think they were gawking because you look so beautiful." Aurora said.

All of a sudden there were a bunch of hushed 'Yeses' and heads nodding up and down among the faeries and creatures. Maleficent's face looked up and caught this.

Maleficent's face suddenly softened and she had more of a puzzled look as she turned to the faeries that gathered by the side of the bog. The same male water faerie approched Maleficent from before.

"I was going to say you look stunning and beautiful, my lady". He flew down and gave Maleficent a kiss on the hand.

The rest of the water faeries came by in turn giving Maleficent a kiss on the hand. The stone faeries and wallerbogs all came and bowed in front of Maleficent's feet. She started to figit with her hair and sway side to side. Suddently she felt very uncomfortable. Her chest and forehead started to glisten in the sunlight as now between the heat and the current situation, she finally began to perspire again.

Robin then buzzed close to Maleficent, butt aglow. She raised her hand, it was shaking a little and flicked he wrist. Robin was back to himself.

"I am sorry, my lady", he bowed and then like the water faerie flew down and gave her a kiss on the hand. He flew back up to her face and said, "This was all my fault and not Diaval's. I reminisced too much about the time when you did so many wonderful things with us in the bog. I grew upset and Diaval was just following along to cheer me up. He would never actually think the things he said otherwise."

Maleficent's face grew sadder with every moment Robin was telling the truth of what happened.

"By the way, my lady" Robin added, "You certainly _do_ look 'hot' in that dress." He said waving one hand up and down as if to wave off the heat on his body. "You are stunning and it is the best outfit you made yet. It reminds me of the dresses you made when you were a wee lass."

Maleficent's eyes started to mist over, "Thank you, Robin, but it was Aurora that made the dress for me."

Robin looked a bit stunned along with most of the crowd and all eyes were on Aurora.

Aurora curtcied and nodded her head, 'yes'.

"She _did_ do a wonderful job. Didn't she?" Maleficent said in a soft voice.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Maleficent hung her head down in shame. She then looked up and turned to Robin.

"Robin, I am sorry for the way I have acted," she said as her eyes welled up more and almost could feel tears forming. She gathered every ounce of energy she had to shake it off and in a raised voice, she said, "Please, everyone return to your fun", she turned back to Robin, "Please, find me Diaval."

Robin said, "One of the wallerbogs already brough him over." He was sitting on the back of a wallerbog that brought him to the edge of the mud.

Maleficent waved her hand and Diaval was a man again. His body was covered in mucus which was dripping down in sheets from his body.

"Oh! This is nasty!" he cried out. He glared at Maleficent as if to say 'why?'

With another wave of her hand, Diaval was all cleaned up and is clothes were all nicely tucked in.

Maleficent tried to gather her composure and squared off her shoulders and spoke in her normal cool voice, "I'm sorry, Diaval. I shouldn't have become so angry with you. I was upset because I thought you disrespected me. I didn't understand the circumstances of the situation until Robin made it clear."

"I am sorry too, my mistress. I shouldn't have played along with Robin, but I was trying to cheer him up and..."

Maleficent raised her hand to interrupt Diaval, "Yes, he told me everything."

Maleficent looked up at the sky and noticed that it was starting to get late and the sleep spell on the 3 faeries would soon be wearing off.

"Diaval, we will talk more later, right now we need to get Aurora back."

"Yes, my mistress."

"Ok then, I will talk to you tomorrow, Diaval," Robin said. "Have a good evening!"

"Good evening Robin", Diaval said.

There were others that said their goodbyes but most of the other faeries resumed their fun in the mud bog since it was still very hot out. Maleficent, Aurora and Diaval headed back up to the thorn wall close to near where the other house was.

Maleficent and Aurora were talking more about the dress as Diaval trailed a good bit behind, he couldn't make out what the two were saying. But he could see both Maleficent and Aurora pointing and lifting the sleeves on her dress.

"Beastie?" Maleficent asked.

"Yes, Faerie Godmother?"

"What is this for?"

Maleficent discreetly pointed to a small slit with a concealed button that ran down the middle of the front on the dress. Normally a slit like this would be associated with a man's garment, but certainly wouldn't be needed on woman's garment.

"Access"

"Wha...What?" Then Maleficent thought about the one word Aurora blurted out and then her face looked at her in shock. "Oh! My word! Aurora, you shouldn't be thinking like that young lady!"

Aurora giggled.

"Where on earth did you ever get a thought like that."

"Well, my aunties have all these romantic books in addition to the books on how to do things." she continued to smile. "One of the books mentions it on a garment."

Maleficent shook her head in astonishement at what it was the girl could have been reading about. Then the thought did come to her that Aurora IS of age.

"Beastie, I am alone and not in need of such a thing."

"I just thought it might come in handy in the future." Aurora giggled.

Then the two giggled a little bit. "You certainly are...different, Beastie."

"So are you Faerie Godmother. You are so unique and wonderful."

"Thank you, Beastie", a warm feeling passed through Maleficent.

"Faery Godmother?"

"Your cheeks are turning red. Your face is so pretty."

This made her feel even more warm inside.

"Well, I'm fine, I don't know why that is," she exaggerated a bit. But Maleficent knew deep inside, the remark made her feel good inside. It was a feeling she didn't have in a long time.

Diaval soon realized that following behind Maleficent and Aurora was a bad place to be as Maleficent in that dress looked more attractive than ever. Her sleeves hung down as it appeared she held her hands together in front of her. She still had her ponytail draped over her right shoulder and the bare spot on her back was still all exposed. He kept watching the movement on her back as she took each step. His eyes focused on the indentation in the middle of her lower back. He had an intense desire to walk up to Maleficent's side and put his arm right around her waist and put his hand right on that spot. His eyes moved down to the one bare leg that was exposed under the sheer fabric. His eyes were fixed on how Maleficent's thigh bulged out a little bit just above her knee with every step she took with that leg. As with her back, he wanted to run his hands up and down her thigh.

What's the matter with me, Diaval thought to himself. He turned to look at Aurora, also a stunning young woman and she also had a fine outfit on. But he was fine with looking at her. He shifted his eyes back to Maleficent's back and then it happened again. He could feel the tingle between his legs.

Maleficent turned around and said, "Diaval, what are you doing so far back there?"

"Just keeping my distance while you talk with Aurora", he said.

Aurora came back to Diaval and put her arm out, "Please walk me home kind sir."

He bowed and said, "Gladly, madam Aurora".

Aurora giggled as he took her arm. Maleficent took a step back and let the two walk in front of her. Diaval thought to himself, "Good, at least with her behind me, I can keep my eyes forward and off her."

"Hmmmm, I wonder. I think Diaval and Aurora like each other", Maleficent surmised. "Could there be more feelings there than friendship?"

Aurora and Diaval were playing around. She was pushing into him, and he gently pushed back. Then Aurora pushed him so hard he fell to the ground. Both were laughing.

When Diaval got up, he had a tear in the left arm sleeve that ran from his shoulder all the way down.

Maleficent thought to herself. I wonder. I see how Diaval and Aurora interact with each other. They certainly like each other. Could that be the reason why he has been acting so strangely around me lately? Could he be the one for her? She likes the Moors and wants to stay with me. A bond between them might secure a peace between Stefan's kingdom and mine once HE is out of the way. But there is the curse...

"Oh would you look at that," Diaval said, "You ripped my sleeve." The ripped sleeve fell back and his arm was exposed right to the shoulder.

Maleficent found herself studying the shape of Diaval's arms, noticing his tricep bulge out when he thrust his arm down as he was talking with his hands with Aurora. She walked a bit to the side to catch the movement in his bicep too when his arm moved up. Hmmm, he certainly is built much nicer than Stefan.

She ended up catching herself licking her lips and raising her eyebrows.

Whoa! Mal, what the heck are you doing? She then shook it off. Where are these darn feelings coming from?!

Soon they arrived at the wall and Maleficent parted the way she then turned to the both of them.

She subconciously raised her hand and placed it on Diaval's exposed arm and then ran her thumb down and over his bicep and rested her fingers around his elbow.

"Diaval, I am sorry again for what happened earlier." She looked deep into his eyes.

"I am too. I never meant to disrespect you." His look reciprocated hers.

"Now, walk back to the Rowan Tree I will meet you there. I will see Aurora to the cottage myself."

Diaval tried very hard not to look at the spot where Maleficent placed her hand and rather shifted his eyes on her ponytail which draped down the front of her body. But this wasn't much better. It certainly didn't seem she was aware that she just ran her fingers down his arm. It sure did feel good though. He looked to Aurora to say good night, but the girl's eyes were fixed on where Maleficent's hand was.

Maleficent looked and then said, "Oh!" and pulled her hand away.

Aurora turned around and tried to stifle a giggle. Maleficent's eyes turned to her and narrowed.

"Goodnight, Aurora", Diaval said.

"And a goodnight to you, Sir Diaval," Aurora said. As she turned to walk with Maleficent through the thorn wall, she whipped around and asked Diaval, "How do you think Faerie Godmother looks in the dress I made for her?"

Darn! Just when he thought he was off the hook, she had to ask. All he could say was, "You did a great job it's a nice dress."

Maleficent's eyes narrowed again and she thought to herself, "Hummph, just nice, huh?"

But Aurora didn't sit still with that answer and she mirrored what Maleficent was thinking.

"Just nice? I think she looks stunning and very beautiful."

"Yes, Yes." Diaval agreed uncomfortably as he again got that tingling feeling.

"Thank you, Aurora, and Thank you Diaval." Maleficent pressed her shoulders back and arched her back a little straighter in confidence when responding to the compliments. She pulled the dress a bit down to straighten it out and the point where the 'v' neck ended moved further into her cleavage. The tingling intensified.

The two turned and started to walk through the thorn wall. As before, Maleficent walked with her forearms raised and her arms slightly away from her body. The sleeves hung down. The back of the entire dress framed out Maleficen'ts shape beautifully. Again, Diaval found himself focusing on the bare part of her back. He kept his eyes fixed on that spot until the thorns closed in behind them.

Diaval hung his head low and started back to the Rowan tree. It was now dusk and he didn't want to be walking around at night since his night vision as a human wasn't as good as when he was a raven.

He had trouble getting the thought of Maleficent in that dress out of his mind.

He thought aloud, "Oh, why Aurora, why did you make that dress! Why did you make her look so beautiful!" Then he thought to himself, I think I am going crazy. It has to be. These feelings don't happen when I look at Aurora. She's beautiful too, but I don't get these strange feelings when I look at her. But Maleficent?...Ohhhh!

"I am really hoping I am not falling for a woman that will never love me back", he lamented.

Just outside the cottage, Aurora and Maleficent were saying their goodnights to each other.

"Well, thank you again Beastie for the nice summer dress, I haven't broke a sweat the whole afternoon since I put it on. Not even when I was angry before." Maleficent did fib a little as she did perspire a bit when she felt uncomfortable apologizing to everyone over by the mud bog.

"I never seen you angry like that Faerie Godmother, it doesn't seem like you. You always seem so calm and serene. Very much at peace with yourself."

Maleficent snickered a bit a the thought of herself being at peace, when there is a tempest of emotions that are currently flying around with in her.

"I have a bunch of complicated feelings that are running around inside of me, Beastie. So I might seem a bit out of sorts of late. I am sure it will all pass. Oh, and I think I will take it upon myself to make you a dress too." Maleficent said.

"You already made me the nightgown", Aurora reminded.

"Oh? And I can't make you another dress?"

"Ok. Thank You", Aurora smiled. She was about to turn to go into the cottage but then turned right back towards Maleficent.

"Faerie Godmother?"

"Yes"

"I find I am having so much fun on the Moors with you, Diaval, Robin and the other Fae creatures. I wait everyday counting the hours for the next time you come. This life here is not me, I would like to come and live with you when I am 16."

"Oh? Are you sure you want that, to live away from the human world?"

"Yes! I know it will take time to adjust, but I see how you live and it is something I want more than anything in the world. The Moors has everything I would need. I want to eat and sleep in a tree like you. I want to talk and play with your friends."

A strong feeling began to well up inside of Maleficent as she said, "Beastie, you would be alone as there are no humans allowed in the moors."

"There's Diaval?"

"He is a raven, a bird, and eventually he will want to fly off and live his own life. I can't keep him my servant forever."

"But I don't need to be around other humans, the Fae folk can be my friends and you will always will be with me. That is all I need."

"Well, Yes. If that is your desire and when the time comes, you can live with me."

"Oh thank you Faerie Godmother!" exlaimed excitedly.

Aurora then ran up to Maleficent and threw her arms around her back.

She hesitantly put her arms around her too.

"I love you Faerie Godmother"

All of a sudden a feeling welled up inside of Maleficent and that feeling gripped around her heart. A wave of emotions started to come over her. She started to breath heavy and tears started to well up quickly in her eyes. She quickly pushed Aurora away.

"Are you Ok?"

"Yes, I'll fine. I am just a bit faint. Now be off, shoo, your aunts will wake up shortly."

"Goodnight Faerie Godmother!"

"Goodnight Beastie,"

With that she sashayed into the house and went to her room. She waved one more time out the window and then Maleficent raised her hand and waved her fingers. Then she turned and started back. The storm of emotions running through her were too great. She could feel the stone wall around her heart start to crumble. She stopped and put her back up against a tree and tears started to fall from her eyes.

Diaval was waiting for Maleficent back at the Rowan Tree. What the heck is taking her so long? It is already dark. I hope she didn't go back to the house in the barrier? She _did_ say the Rowan Tree.

He decided to lay down in the large chair that was in the room where Maleficent changed and made her clothes. As he laid down, he reflected on the day and the predominate thought in his mind was that dress. Moreover the way his mistress looked in that dress. Oh, Aurora is killing me! Maybe I shouldn't be here. Something bad might happen if I get close to her in that dress. What if I get stiff again. I should go. With that he got up and was starting to go out the front door. At that moment Maleficent came back and he almost ran straight into her.

She had her arms across her chest and her face looked like she had been crying.

"Maleficent...what is wrong?", he knew it was something serious if it made his mistress cry. "You look like your miserable"

"I'm Ok, Diaval."

"No, you're miserable, my mistress".

Maleficent's patience was wearing thin and the she blurted out, "Keep saying it and I will make _you_ miserable."

With that she pushed past him and went to her back room. She leaned up against her wardrobe cabinet and faced the wall.

Diaval slowly walked into the room and saw his mistress with her back to him. She just stood there and every so often her hand would reach up to her face. Was she crying?

For some reason he felt a strong urge to comfort his mistress. He felt it was now a good time to rest his hands on those beautiful shoulders of hers. As he done so, he could hear her breathing become heavy and with each hand she alternately pushed both hands off and turned around. Her eyes were misted over and either she was crying or was ready to. She then raised her hand as if to transform him into a bird, but he was fast and snatched her hand in his meshing his fingers with hers. As he anticipated, she raised her other hand and he did the same with that hand.

"Oh, no, not this time" Diaval said in a slightly angered tone. "Every time I want discuss something that you dislike or disagree with, you change me back into a bird. What are you afraid of?"

"I am not afraid of anything, now let go of my hands." her voice started to anger.

"Was it something Aurora said to you that upset you?"

"I said, let GO of my hands", she voice became deeper and grittier, her eyes glared into his.

Diaval didn't know what it was, but whether his mistress was sad, happy, or angry as she was becoming now. He always was attracted to her eyes. He didn't know if it was just him, but he could swear that the little bit of red around her pupils would intensify when she was angry.

"Not until you tell me what went wrong tonight".

"Diaval, I have no idea what has gotten into you, but you know should know by now not to mess with me. I don't want you to touch me."

With that she started to curl her fingers around and her nails began to dig into his hands.

"Ahhhhhhh! Mistress!" He yelled out. Diaval knew he was outmatched and he tried to let go and writhe free from her grip, which he found impossible, as her fingers were much longer and stronger than his. He knew he had to come up with something quick as he could feel his fingers being bent back to their breaking point.

He said through the pain in his hands, "Why are you doing this? Why do you shut out the people that care or even possibly love you? I see you do it to Robin and me. He tells me of the times when you have fun, when you were happy and loved life. Lately I have been seeing little bits of what he was telling me, but you shut those feelings out and always come off cold. Now, I don't think you are evil, but you have been hurt very badly. I understand your anger and want your revenge with Stefan, but don't take it out on us. We just want to see you happy."

Suddenly the anger left her face and she just let go and Diaval quickly moved a few steps back rubbing his hands. He could see the indentations left by her fingernails on the backs of his hands. A couple of them even started to bleed. She turned back towards the wall again.

Diaval once again reached his hand out to her thinking that perhaps now she might be open for some comforting. But as soon as his hand got near her shoulder she waved her hand in the air, then came the all too familiar whisp of yellow and he plopped down to the floor as a bird.

She did it anyway. She turned him back into a raven.

This angered Diaval and he flew up to the table and started to caw, he spread his wings on the table and cawed some more. She didn't turn around. At first he wanted to fly right into her hair for turning him back into a bird as that is how angry he was with her. But he resisted the urge as he knew the consequences would be dire. So he kept hopping up and down on the table with his wings outstretched.

She then said with her voice quavering a bit, "Keep it up and I will turn you into a Hop Toad or Dog again."

Diaval stopped, but continued to glare at his mistress' back. His eyes were trained on the exposed part of her back. But he pushed that feeling aside and he flew out of window.

"That's a good birdy", she said.

She walked out of the room, into the next, and climbed up into to her bedroom. Diaval flew up to a branch near where his nest was in the tree and he looked down into the bed room. He found his mistress laying down on the bed on her side and she was facing the window. For a long while she kept looking towards the window, she was figeting with a lock of her hair. Then she just grabbed a pillow and hugged it. After a while she turned her head slightly towards the window. A single tear rolled down the side of her nose.

He dropped down from above and landed on the bed beside her. He hopped over to the exposed part of her back and rubbed his head into indentation.

The rubbing felt good and Maleficent even arched her back into his rubbing. She thought to herself, "Everything is a mess. Diaval was right, and I was wrong. Everything _I thought_ was going to plan, but now I don't know what is wrong with me. I am having feelings I have not had in a long time. Feelings that are welling up so strong that even with my stubborn and strong will, I am having tremendous difficulty in suppressing these feelings. I am supposed to be strong, stern, and without emotion exept for focusing on my revenge with Stefan." This just wasn't supposed to happen. I am not supposed to feel. I can't love. True love doesn't exit.

Diavals rubbing intensified and she could feel him really pushing his head into her back as if trying to massage her.

He is so stubborn at times, but then again so am I. I even feel worse now that I almost hurt him. I have never hurt an animal before with my own hand and I almost broke his hands. I am so ashamed of myself at what I have become. Sometimes I wished Stefan did kill me so I don't have to go through all this pain or I should have listened to Robin and not bothered with Stefan in the first place and none of this would have happened.

Just then Maleficent felt Diaval start to run his beak very lightly across her lower back. Oh that feels good. I know I shouldn't allow this, but it _is_ comforting and relaxing. A little smirk appeared on her face as she even arched her back further. His little feathered head continued to press into her back.

I have to tell him, he needs to know anyway. He is smart and ususally comes up with good ideas and he could possibly help...in more ways than one.

She mustered up her strength and tried to choke back her tears, but the feelings were very strong and they still showed through her voice.

While still facing the window and Diaval rubbing her back, she began to speak.

"It didn't work, Diaval. With all my power and magic I tried to muster what positive energy I had within me and it still didn't work." she said her voice quavering.

Diaval stopped what he was doing and let out a soft caw as if asking why. Maleficent turned around on her other side to face Diaval. Her eyes were still glossed over as she was still near tears.

"Tonight I tried to revoke the curse on Aurora and it didn't work. The curse _cannot_ be broken. It is even stronger than I am."

Diaval's lower beak dropped at hearing this.

"As we said our goodnights she said something to me that just...", she interupted herself, "I don't know what I am going to do now. Diaval, you were right all along. I am sorry I didn't listen to you. Despite everything I am and all my powers, I messed things up badly."

Diaval was in awe with what he was hearing.

He saw that her sleeve had fallen back from her forearm and he hopped over and rubbed his head against her arm and she stroked his feathers with her other arm.

He then hopped over to her chest and laid his head there and let out a small caw.

"Diaval, please don't." she said softly as she was ready to pick Diaval up, but then he started to rub his head down the lowest part of the 'v' in her neckline. The feeling made her stop in her tracks.

"Ohh!" she gasped. "Diaval. Oh, my! You are becoming naughty, my pet." she laughed slightly.

She flicked her wrist and changed him back into a man.

Diaval transformed and his head was resting right on top of his mistress bosom.

She gasped when the full weight of his head was on her chest. He started to immediately pull away, but then he felt a strong hand reach behind his head push him right back.

"It's OK, my pet, you can stay with me tonight."

She began to run her fingers through his hair.

Diaval was stunned as he found himself staring right down her cleavage. But he didn't say a thing. He knew this was too good to be true and at the same time he was letting everything Maleficent told him sink in. He also didn't want to say anything that might upset her. He could clearly see his Mistress was under an awful lot of stress and it was causing severe mood swings. But whatever she was feeling right now ended up having him have his head in a place he place he only dreamed about, and she wasn't pushing him away. This _was_ too good to be true and more then likely tomorrow morning she will awaken to her normal, under control, stern self and probably would tell him it was one time thing, a mistake, or something along those lines. But for now he was just living in the moment. The trouble was the feeling became overwhelming to him and he could feel himself get larger and more stiff as he watched her breathe and could hear her heart beat slowly increasing. Sometimes he moved his head to shift his weight around better and the movement would make her heart beat even faster. Her breathing would get very heavy too.

The feeling between his legs grew uncomfortable and he had to adjust himself. He picked up his head to see what he was doing, and again, her hand pushed his head right back to her chest.

"Hmmmmmmmm", she sighed. He couldn't tell if her eyes were opened or closed, but her heart was starting to beat faster.

He was as hard as a tree branch and she moved her leg towards him. Looking down her dress, the sheer part of her dress fell away when she moved her whole leg, right up to her waist, was exposed. With his free arm he placed his hand on her upper thigh. Slowly he started to rub her leg and her heart was racing now. Her waist began to move a bit.

"Diaval, no...no more. Stop!" she called out. Her voice sounded very different though. She was speaking in between taking deep breaths.

He lifted up his head up to see her face. Her eyes were closed and her nostrils flared when she exhaled. She was breathing very heavy.

"I just wanted to comfort you, my mistress. I just wanted to do that this whole evening."

Once again, her hand pushed his head back down to her chest.

"Yes, I know and you are doing just that. Just don't move and don't say anything. Please don't ruin it by going farther than you should."

He withdrew his hand and tried to keep still. But it was difficult as she splayed her fingers and ran them right up his hair.

"I am sorry for the poor response I had given you earlier. You _do_ look very good in this dress."

"Thank you".

Subconciously he placed his hand on her shoulder and ran his fingers along the outside of her shoulder muscle and came to a rest below her shoulder.

"Diaval?"

"Yes my mistress."

"I _said_ stop!"

This time she gently pushed his head away from her chest and she turned around to face the window.

He did it, he killed it. The moment was gone.

"Damn", he said to himself. He just HAD to do it, caress her on the shoulder after she told him moments ago to stop doing so with her leg. But she just looked so darn good. So beautiful. He turned the other way facing the wall and he was still hard as a tree branch.

But the truth of the situation was that the moment wasn't gone, but was escalating.

Maleficent noticed a tingling sensation between her legs start to dominate her thoughts as Diaval began to rub her leg. The feeling was becaming too much. If this had gone any further, she wouldn't have known what would happen or worse the result of it. The trouble was that despite what her mind was telling her to break it off and stop now, the feeling running through her body was greater.

Mal, Mal! Get a hold of yourself. I know you are upset and need some comfort, but this is going too far! After a pause she thought. But it HAS been so long. It would be nice to just indulge a bit. I really do want him.

No No NO! It is just going to make things complicated. Shoo! Go away! She said to herself.

She tried her best to muster up every ounce of energy she had and she let her mind wander to thinking of other things than the current moment. But then Diaval made that comment about how he really felt how she looked in her new dress. Finally he began to caress her around the contours of her arm. She was at the breaking point and could feel herself beginning to loose control. She was fighting the urge to start moving her hips. This was her last chance. She had to break the moment and NOW. So she did what was best and told him to 'stop' one more time. In addition she pushed him aside and turned around to face the window. But she did feel bad for doing so.

Slowly she began to get control over herself. That's it Mal, get back into control of the situation.

Diaval noticed that soon her breathing slowed and so did her heart rate.

Just as predicted, he knew it was a fleeting moment and as soon as the moment passed, she would come to.

"Please change me back to my raven self and I will go back to my nest."

"Yes, you do that." she agreed. "Oh, and thank you for being with me tonight."

Diaval was seething, but he decided to go along with it. He was mostly upset that he kept following his feelings and pushed further. If he didn't do so, he could have still be resting on her chest. But maybe it was for the better. The tingling sensation on his penis was very strong and he felt like rubbing up against something. It was for the best that she did change him back and he would fly up to his nest.

Within a few moments that was were he was. The nest was just out of eye shot from the open top of his Mistress' bedroom.

Soon he grew tired and drifted off to sleep thinking that he could have been sleeping through the night with her and not alone.

Things were not going so well for Maleficent either as she laid there, even though she was calming down, she could still feel a tingling between her legs. She really wanted to be with him, she even got herself ready to call him back. But she kept telling herself that she did the right thing chasing him off. But the feelings inside of her told otherwise as she began to feel hurt.

But eventually the feeling did subside and she regained control over her feelings. She curled up and drifted off to sleep.

The next day was another warm morning on the Moors. Robin and Diaval were lounging by the rock in the watering hole to catch a bit of cool air before the sun made things hotter. Both were wearing shorter pants hanging their legs into the water on the lake bank.

"Wa, Wa, Wait. Where was your head exactly?"

"On her chest."

"And she let you get away with that?

"At first yes. She actually put it there."

"Oh, boy! You two are definitely in love!

"No, Robin, we are not in love. She just needed someone to be with her, it wasn't any different then the time she had that fit of rage. I am pretty sure if Aurora was with her, she would have done the same thing with her. Look I don't even know why I confide in you with this stuff. It is really private."

"Do you want her or no?"

"Yes! I mean every day goes by and the past year has been really difficult. It seems like she gets more beautiful every day. I just can't ignore or play off the feelings anymore. But I don't think Maleficent is the least bit attracted to me and I don't want to feel like an idiot approaching her and she just laughs in my face."

"Yes, but I think she is more interested in you than you lead on to believe."

"I don't think so. She keeps saying over and over and over again, 'I cannot love, there is no such thing as true love.'"

"Well, what are _your_ feelings on that."

"I don't know really, but I think there is such a thing as love."

"Good, as do I." Robin said, "Now even though she says she doesn't believe I true love, the peculiar thing is that she is allowing you to touch her."

"But only under her terms. Many times if I want to put my arm around her neck or waist, I get that glaring glow from her eyes, or she just stares blankly out somewhere and says, 'rule number three Diaval'. When she puts her arm around me I can see that it is subconcious, once she realizes it, she pulls away."

"But last night she didn't pull away"

"That's because I was comforting her. As her servant. No love, it was a task."

"But it did mean something more to you."

"Yeah, kind of. But I try not to let it mean more because I know how she stands in regards to love. She simply isn't having it. Last night I tried to speak up to her to get some truths and that idea got shot down rather quickly."

"Yeah, I have noticed that you tend to be defiant and lately I have noticed your inhabitions decreasing ever since you been the dragon."

"Well, I DO feel more confident lately and you are right, there are things that I am saying or doing, particularly with Maleficent, that I would never have done the first 16 years or so I was in her service. It is just that I have things on my chest too that I want to talk about and normally we do talk together fine, but if I say something she doesn't like or disagrees with, she shuts me out by turning me into something that can't talk back to her. Last night I just had enough. She tried to turn me back into a bird and I just snatched her hands out of mid air preventing her from doing so, just so I could speak to her."

"You did what?", Robin questioned.

"Grabbed her hands"

"And you are still here today to talk about it?"

"Well, she did almost break my hands, but she stopped when she realized she was hurting me."

"You certainly do have a brass set of culyouns to be brave enough to take her on. You best be keeping those inhabitions in check, young raven. You don't want to be ticking her off. Remember what I said about that low boiling point of hers."

"Trust me, Robin, I don't want to make her mad. In fact I just want to do the opposite. I just want to make her happy and I want to make her feel good."

"Well, in the very least it sounds like you love her."

"I don't know. After yesterday...seeing her in that dress. I just feel all sorts of emotions and feelings rushing through me. And I end up getting 'big'." Diaval said pointing between his legs.

"You found her sexy."

"Yeah, that's what I am afraid of."

"Don't be afraid. Just roll with it and the next time we talk we can talk about the first thing that pops up", Robin said pointing between Diaval's legs. "Oh! in case you haven't figured it out by now" Robin said as he flew up to his ear and whispered. "Ya just put the pole in the hole."

"Robin, you certainly have a one track mind and I _know_ what you mean. It will never happen not with her. I can't even put my hand on her leg without being thrown out of the room." Diaval explained. "I noticed it's getting too hot here now. The sun is getting stronger. I think I am going to go back and get a change of clothes, this way I can dive in. The water looks refreshing. I think today would be a good day to hang out here."

Diaval got up and started to walk up the bank.

"What if she wears that dress again today." Robin asked.

Diaval stopped and turned around. "She was already wearing it this morning when we had breakfast." Diaval said, "Darn near drives me up the wall looking at her in that dress."

"Heh, Heh, Heh. Diaval, my boy, I think you got it bad."

Diaval shook his head in disagreement and turned around to walk off. "See you later on."

"Sure thing Diaval. We will have fun here as always. And tell Maleficent to bring Aurora. She's LOTS of fun."

"Will do!"

Robin was deep in thought, "I wonder what Aurora has to say in regards to Maleficent since she mostly talks to her. I ought to have a little chat with her." he thought to himself rubbing his chin.


	12. Chapter 12: The Fulfillment

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 12 The Fulfillment

The heatwave finally broke and it was a good thing too. The last thing Diaval and Maleficent had to do was worry about the heat. Maleficent was wearing one of her lighter robes and today she had her hair up. It was two days before Aurora's 16th birthday and the past 4 days, Maleficent and Diaval were keeping an extra close eye on the cottage. They spent these days in their other home in the barrier. Diaval would make two trips out to the castle to bring back any information in regards to what Stefan was doing as the day of Aurora's birthday was approaching. For the most part it was business as usual at the castle and Diaval rarely caught site of King Stefan at all. His time in the west wing room increased dramatically this last week. He would only sit at his throne in the morning to hear of the days business in the town, and then he would go straight to that room.

On the night of this second day before Aurora's birthday, Maleficent went to see Aurora alone. She had a plan, a thought came to her mind about what her and Aurora spoke about the night she was overcome with feelings. It was Aurora's request to come live with her on the Moors. Maleficent thought that if Aurora lived with her on the moors, she was protected from coming in contact with a spinning wheel and if the sun set on the end of her 16th birthday and she didn't prick her finger on a spinning wheel, the curse would be no longer be satisfied and with the conditions not being met the curse would automatically be broken.

The two were walking through a glen within the moors watching faeries dart too and fro. It was a nice cool evening for once.

"Beastie...There is something I need to tell you." Maleficent said.

"Sure thing Faerie Godmother, I always enjoy having a chat with you."

"There is evil in the world and I cannot keep you safe from it"

"I am almost 16 years old now and I can take care of myself."

"Oh, can you? Well, I have been giving your request some thought and I said, 'why wait.' If you want to come live with me on the Moors you can come now if you like."

"Now?" Aurora had a surprised, but happy look on her face. But then she thought for a bit and then said, "I would love to, but my aunties probably would not let me."

"I thought you said you can take care of yourself."

"I can, but my aunts and I have become so close. I know you don't allow humans into the Moors, but if you allow them to visit me in the Moors then, yes, I will leave and live with you now."

"Yes, they can visit" Maleficent knew all to well that her aunties were already familiar fae folk. While she cringed at the idea of those faeries that abandoned their homes on the Moors to live with that horrid Stefan, to come back. She knew she had to give in just so that Aurora could be safe within the thorn barrier of the Moors.

"Great! Then I will tell them tomorrow morning."

The following morning, the day before Aurora's 16th birthday, Maleficent filled Diaval in what went on the night before and that they were going to prepare to have a new permanent house guest. Then they both went out to the cottage together to check up on Aurora.

Diaval was in his raven form and he tried to keep out of site as he followed Aurora into the woods. Maleficent followed close behind, hiding in the shadows as she went along.

Maleficent caught Aurora rehearsing what she was going to say to her aunts in terms of leaving them to live on her own. Just as she was rehearsing she heard the voice of a young man ring out. "Hello, is someone there."

The voice also took Maleficent by surprise and she was fortunate enough to be near a large boulder and ducked behind it. She creeped over to the dark shadow on the side of the boulder so she could stay in hiding and look on.

When the man came into view, Maleficent and Diaval could see that it was a young man that appeared to be of royalty as his clothing suggested and he had his horse in tow. The gentleman appeared to be very handsome and caught Aurora's eye. At first she was going to dart off to hide behind a tree, but then she got a good look at the fellow and she stopped before darting off.

"Hello there fair maiden. I am looking to find myself to King Stefan's castle, but instead I got turned around and ended up here...hopelessly lost."

From high up in the tree, Diaval could see Aurora's cheeks flush and she was all smiles.

"It's that way", Aurora pointed north.

The young man just looked at Aurora with his eyes a glow. He then shook his head. And said, "Wa..Wa"

"The castle? The one you are looking for, it's just up ahead."

"Oh! heavens, where are my manner's. I am Philip." he bowed down to her. "And what may I ask is your name."

"Aurora", she replied swaying side to side still smiling.

"As in Aurora Borealis?"

"Uh, huh", she nodded.

"That's rather pretty."

Aurora's smile grew wider and she giggled a bit.

"Well, I thank you for helping me. Have a good day madam"

"Will you be back this way?"

"Most certainly, my dear Aurora".

With that he hopped on his horse and waved goodbye as he rode off. Aurora waved back too.

Maleficent looked on and her face cringed. This isn't a good thing. She certainly wants to see him again. I for one, will not allow him on the Moors. Aurora probably will figure this out as well. Will she change her mind and stay with her aunts?

What about Diaval? I know he likes Aurora, I wonder what he will think about this.

Aurora started to walk back to the rocks and was thinking aloud. "It was a nice moment meeting you Philip, but I am sad to say it will be the last."

She continued practicing her speech she was preparing for her aunts. Maleficent heard all she needed to hear. She breathed a sigh of relief to learn that Aurora was still going with her plan.

Maleficent and Diaval listened on as Aurora continued to pick her berries.

Just then Diaval plopped down out of the sky in front of her.

"Oh! Good morning Diaval...my pretty bird."

He cawed

"I am just finishing picking some berries. Aunties are going to make a pie for my birthday tomorrow."

Malficent stayed behind the rock as the two were talking. One thing that Diaval can do that she can't was to mingle within the human world. He would blend right in. This made Maleficent jealous as all she could do is sit in the shadows and eavesdrop.

"I am preparing my speech to my Aunties and tomorrow I am going to tell them the news and I am coming to live with Faerie Godmother and you."

Diaval nodded.

As Aurora started back to the cottage, Diaval flew behind her. While she wasn't looking he circled high up and gave Maleficent a nod that the coast was clear and she could get out from behind the rock. He saw her get up and start back towards the thorn wall and then he swooped down in front of Aurora.

When they got to the cottage Diaval perched himself on the fence. Aurora said, "I'm sorry Diaval, but I cannot play today...there is much to be done for tomorrow."

He nodded, bowed to her and took off.

"Good day to you, Diaval."

"Oh, Diaval?"

He circled around and came back to the fence.

"Tell Godmother that I am coming to see her tonight. I have something for her".

Again he nodded in acknowledgement and he flew off.

Diaval came back early that night as once again he had no news of the goings on at the castle. Things were very quiet there indeed and that kind of made him feel uneasy.

He arrived back at the Rowan tree first, but he didn't have to wait long before Maleficent arrived with Aurora in tow. Tonight she had one of her robes on, but her hair was wrapped up.

"Good Evening Diaval!" Aurora happily rang out and she rushed Diaval with open arms almost knocking him over.

"My, my, Aurora, and a good evening to you to." It was obvious to Diaval her excitement was due to Maleficent allowing her to live on the Moors with them.

Maleficent thought to herself, "Hmmmm, apparently she must have put her meeting with Philiip behind her. Her reaction to Diaval hasn't changed. She certainly looks like she still likes him."

Aurora was holding on to a small cloth bag and she turned and held it up to her chest.

"Oh, Faerie Godmother."

"Yes, Beastie?"

"I have another gift for you"

"Wa...What?"

"Diaval, wait out here we are going up to the bedroom." Aurora said.

Aurora shot up to the bedroom. Diaval looked at Maleficent. She just shrugged her shoulders and raised her arms and eyebrows. Clearly she didn't know what was going on. Then she followed Aurora up to the bedroom.

"Go ahead, open up the bag."

"Aurora, you don't have to give me anything."

"Its for allowing me to stay here. Actually I was working on it already and was going to give it to you on another occasion, but now is as good as an occasion as any.

Maleficent pulled a rather small garment out of the bag.

"It is a new riding outfit." Aurora informed Maleficent. "Diaval was explaining to me how your other riding outfit is very long and you have to unbutton the dress to just to swing your leg over his back when he is a dr...er a horse. This outfit is called a 'romper'. It has the the top half of a dress and the legs are long like pants so you can easily swing your leg over without having to unbutton anything. The legs are are nice and flowy so when your legs are close together it looks like a dress. It is also black, your favorite color."

Maleficent held the garment up and it looked like it had even less material than the summer dress she made her a couple weeks ago...especially around the mid section.

"Oh, Aurora, I...I...don't know. There is just so much skin exposed on this one."

"Oh, come on! It's the same amount of exposure as the other one. Try it on. It is very comfortable and you could also use it as another summer outfit.

"Very well, no need to push, Beastie. It certainly is very interesting looking and different."

Aurora sat down by the entrance of the bedroom and her back was turned to Maleficent while she changed into the new outfit. The outfit was much simpler than the other dress, but it was very easy for Maleficent to slip into. As Aurora explained the entire lower section was akin to a pair of capri style pants with the legs stopping at midway down her lower legs. There was no skirt to get in the way of riding, yet with her legs close together the outfit did maintain the appearance of a medium length dress due to the wide cut around each pant leg.

Maleficent never wore anything outside of a dress or robe, and this was very different feeling, but she did appreciate the free movement she had in her entire lower body. If she could run, this would be the outfit to do it in.

"Hmmmm, clever beastie. I would have never thought of this." Maleficent thought to herself.

The upper section of the outfit was very much like an elegant evening gown. The top had a similar plunging neckline as the other dress Aurora made, but this one was more rounded rather than v shaped. The neckline was adored with varous colored stones set in a pattern to showcase the neckline. The outfit had short sleeves that ran down to the elbow, but they were split from the shoulders down. The outside of her arms were exposed from the shoulders down. The outfit did have a belt built into it and the front of the belt had more stones set into a pattern on the front. The back was completely closed up to the neck. The outfit's main striking feature was that it had side cutouts just above the belt that exposed the skin on the sides of her mid section from the back to the front.

Maleficent looked over the outfit. "Impressive. Her skills are improving, she's really good. She certainly likes exposed skin, but as she said, it would make a nice summer outfit as well. She _is_ right, like the other dress, this one feels great," she thought to herself.

She straightened herself out and rested her hands on top of each other in front of her. With a deep exhale, she called for Aurora.

"Ok, Aurora."

Aurora turned around her face lit up. "Oh! My! Faerie Godmother, you sure do look sexy in that. You are going to look so good fl...riding...

"Sexy?" Maleficent interrupted. "Beastie, that isn't my intention to look that way. I hope you don't make me these outfits with that in mind."

"But you have such a wonderful physique. Your so tall and shapely. Don't you want to attract a partner?"

"No. Besides there isn't anyone here in the Moors that is like me. I'm the only one of my kind here."

"What about Diaval? I think he likes you."

"Diaval is my servant, or rather my confidant. The time is soon coming that I release him from his duties. He is a bird, not a man, and I am sure he will want to find a mate for himself. He has been my confidant for close to 17 years." she paused and then continued. "Aurora, I can see it in his eyes, lately he turns away from me when I speak to him. He doesn't look into my eyes anymore . I believe he wants leave and I cannot deny him that any longer. Soon I _will_ free him."

"No. I want him to stay."

Maleficent was thinking hard to herself. Yes Beastie, I want him to stay too. After the other night, I don't know what will happen if I get close to him again. It was so hard to keep myself in control the last time. It was hard sending him away. This body of mine is yearing for something. It is missing something.

"Beastie?", Maleficent decided to change the subject. "I heard you correct yourself twice. Do you know something outside of my changing Diaval into a horse."

Aurora began to wring her hands together and let out a soft and meek, "Yyyyeesss."

Maleficent's eye's narrowed and she put her arms on her hips. "Come on, out with it young lady."

"Diaval slipped about the dragon one evening when we were swimming in the watering hole during the heat wave. I pushed him into telling me about the dragon how you were flying again and ..."

"Oh, did he, huh?" Maleficent interrupted her eyes narrowed and her fingers splayed on her hips.

"Don't be angry, Godmother, I think it is so wonderful that you are flying again especially after what you went through. I am really so happy for you. I _do_ want to see you fly myself. That is why I made that outfit for you. It fits closer to your body so there wouldn't be so much flapping around in the breeze. I think it was so thoughtful of Diaval to come up with the idea for the harness so you can fly. Don't you see, if he didn't like...

"Beastie," she interrupted. "The circumstances on flying are critical. Unfortuantely we cannot fly too high or too far for we don't want anyone to know I have a dragon. This is why I have chosen not to discuss this outside of Diaval, Robin, myself and a few of the other fae folk that know. I told him to leave you out of it, but what is done is done. Now, Aurora, this is to be a topic that isn't to be disussed with anyone that doesn't know already. Am I clear on this?"

"Yes, I understand Faerie Godmother." Aurora gave a little bow to her in respect.

"Good"

Maleficent looked down at herself again and then said, "Aurora, you have an astounding gift. I mean, this is a very different look, but it certainly feels great and it looks very functional. It will be a wonderful riding outfit.

"So I take it that you like it then?"

"Of course, and thank you." Maleficent's face softened as she was touched by the gift Aurora had given her.

"You're welcome, Godmother", Aurora said as she looked at how she was standing. "that _is_ a nice look for you if I do say so myself. You _are_ stunning. You are a great model to work with."

"Why, Thank You, Beastie." Maleficent got that warm flushed feeling in her face again.

"Your cheeks are turning red, Faerie Godmother."

"Is that so?" Maleficent said coyishly as she felt a bit embarrassed.

Aurora nodded.

"You know, when you live here I think I am going to have you make all my clothes from now on."

"YES!" Aurora jumped up and down with happiness.

Diaval was waiting for the two ladies to finish up their discussion upstairs when a red glow flashed by the window and Robin flew into the front door.

"Good evening, Sir Diaval."

"Ahhhh, Robin, what a pleasant surprise."

"Where's Maleficent?"

Diaval put his finger over his mouth and reduced his voice to a whisper. "She's up in the bedroom with Aurora."

Just then Robin slapped his hand over his mouth and said in a an equally low voice. "Uh Oh! I didn't know Aurora was here", he started to whisper. "I just slipped out the 'M' word."

"I think our secret is still safe. Those two have been up there for a while now, talking. I am sure she didn't hear you."

"It's a bit stuffy in here, lets go outside and chat." Robin said pulling at his shirt collar. "But it is nice and cool outside."

"I'm good for that." Diaval replied.

The two went outside and sat at the top of the hill just as it started to roll down. The view of the Moors was great. The air was fresh and the sky was clear.

"I have had my own slippages in front of Aurora." Diaval said.

"Oh?"

"She knows about the dragon."

"You opened your big mouth, huh" he shook his head.

"It was a mistake, Robin. I slipped and then she 'forced' me to tell. But I don't think any harm would come from it. As it is, now I know what to do when I am the dragon. My mistress doesn't fly that often, especially now since it is so close to Aurora's 16th birthday. She doesn't want to take any chances that Stefan or one of his goons sees me flying around. The dragon is supposed to be very hush, hush."

"You say Aurora forced you?"

"Yeah, she threatened to tickle me to death if I didn't tell her."

Robin laughed. Moments later Diaval joined in laughing.

"Hi Guys!" Aurora came bounding out of Maleficent's home and greeted both Diaval and Robin.

Robin turned around and replied, " 'evenin' to you lass, and how are you doing on this glorious evening."

"Fine, and yourself."

"Gooohooohoood", Robin's voice sang out as he looked up and his eyes looked right past Aurora and Diaval. "Holy hubba bubba!"

Robin then slapped his hand to his forehead and fell out of the air and to the ground.

"Robin!" Diaval shouted stooping down to his aid.

"Diaval, is Robin feeling ok?" Maleficent called back.

"I think for some reason he fainted", he looked up to Maleficent and continued, "my missssstr..."

Diaval took a good look at Maleficent, she was now wearing a new beautiful dress. He could tell this was another one of Aurora's creations due to the numerous points of exposed skin. As with the prior dress he looked over his mistress but this time from top down. The dress was black and her light skin constrasted the dress beautifully. The curved neckline seemed wider than on the other dress, but curved down nearly as far. The short split sleeves fell nicely to the side and her arms from shoulder down were bare. Then his eyes focused on the cutouts just above the belt line. The outline of Maleficent's skin contoured nicely with her hourglass shape. The lines on the middle part of her abdomen were just slightly visible.

Then while looking at her legs, he realized that her dress really wasn't a dress at all, but something new altogether. The bottom part of the 'dress' were actually pants that went down three quarters of the way down to her calves.

Robin slowly started to come to.

"So, what do you think my new riding outfit that Aurora made for me?" Maleficent asked Diaval. She then began to play around and started to pose like she did the time when she made her black gown for the christening. She put one hand on her hip and the other hand she turned up. She then turned her back to him and put both hands on her hips and then looked over her bare shoulder.

Diaval couldn't stop looking at her arms. The way they moved and the little contour lines that would appear and disappear on her shoulders, upper arms and forearms when she moved.

"Watch this" Maleficent said, as she spread her legs apart and crouched down, she looked to the right and outstretched her right hand pointing outward and with the other hand she pulled it towards her right eye with three fingers outstretched. It almost looked like if she was mocking drawing a bow and arrow. But clearly Maleficent was showing off the fact that the outfit wasn't a dress, but had separated legs which would obviously come in handy for riding, or flying for that matter.

Aurora laughed, "Nice pose Godmother!"

Robin sat up with his arms around his knees and his eyes too were trained on Maleficent's and her new outfit.

Robin and Diaval just looked on in awe. Robin flew up to Diaval's ear and whispered to him, "She's displaying for you."

Diaval couldn't answer. He just swallowed hard and just kept looking.

Robin whispered again, "I'm starting to foam at the mouth!"

Diaval glanced at Robin and gave him a weird look. There wasn't any foam on his mouth.

Robin whispered to Diaval, "I wonder if she knows she's having fun. It's been a while since I seen her this playful."

Maleficent stood back up and said, "It has no skirt so going riding will be much easier." She then put her hands on her hips and started to walk over to them. There was a slight swagger to her walk.

Diaval's eyes focused on the side cut outs and the way his mistress' fingers splayed on her svelt mid section. He suddenly got the urge to put his hands around that area and then it started to happen again, that tingling sensation between his legs.

"Work it Godmother!" Aurora shouted.

Maleficent lost composure at Aurora's comment and she dropped both arms to the side and started to laugh. She laughed the way Diaval liked, arching her shoulders forward...her exposed shoulders.

He put his hands over his face as he knew what would happen if he continued to look.

"What? Diaval, don't you like it?" Aurora called out.

Diaval didn't answer and looked to Robin.

"Ahhhh, you are a vision of lovliness, my lady." Robin called out. "Sorry about my passing out, you rather 'stunned' me."

"Oh, why thank you Robin, glad to see you are OK." Maleficent answered with a little smirk on her face.

"Diaval?" both Robin and Aurora called out.

"Huh?" Diaval came back to his senses.

"Well, what do you think? Aurora anxiously asked.

Maleficent too was curious to his response and her eyes narrowed a bit when he hesitated.

For a second, Diaval managed to shake what he was feeling off and then he looked to Aurora.

"Aurora, may I have a word with you privately?"

"Sure, Diaval."

As Diaval walked by his mistress he shot out a quick answer, "It looks fine, my mistress."

Maleficent put a hand under her chin and said to Robin as he flew over to her, "Strange...He almost acted the same way when Aurora made me the other summer dress. I don't think he likes it. You see the way he put his hands over his face? Almost as if he was disgusted. "

"Oh, don't worry. I believe he's _very_ attracted to you my lady. He probably couldn't handle what he was seeing. I mean after all, look what happened to me. I became faint!"

"Naw. Look who he ran off with. He likes Aurora." Maleficent said.

"As a friend, yes, nothing more." Robin said.

"You sure about that?"

"Yes. Why don't you ask him?" Robin asked.

"He doesn't care for the outfit, or me for that matter. I know what he is thinking of. In a few days the curse will be fulfilled and he is expecting me to free him. I noticed that he has been avoiding me more and more. He always asks for me to change him in his true form and I know he goes off to see Aurora."

"With all due respect my lady, I believe you are wrong." Robin pointed to the Rowan Tree and continued, "That birdy in there cares about you more than you know."

Maleficent looked back towards the entrance of her home, which was aglow with candlelight and she could see the shadows of Aurora and Diaval moving within. "I held him against his will as a servant for nearly 17 years. The point in time has come that I honor the time he served with me and I release him. I think he wants nothing more than to leave and finally find a mate."

"What if he already chosen to love you."

"Pfft" Maleficent smirked and crossed her arms across her chest. "There is no such thing as true love. Besides, he never came out and said or did anything that would suggest otherwise."

"Oh yeah? What about the horse, the dragon?"

Maleficent's eyes widened as she looked for a few seconds to Robin. The she turned to look out to the Moors again and began to think about what Robin just said.

Robin continued. "I know I have told you I never liked Stefan when you started to go with him. I had a funny feeling that boy was going to turn out to be bad and I was right. But I don't get that feeling with Diaval, he is not like Stefan because he isn't Stefan, he isn't one of those barbaric humans. Diaval is by far more of a gentleman and more respectful of you. He would never take a hand to you or hurt you. He respects women. He gives and doesn't ask for anything in return. All Stefan did was take from you. Take! Take! Take!

"I'll be off, my lady. Let me say goodnight to Aurora and Diaval and I will return to say goodnight to you."

Maleficent didn't say anything. She stood with her right arm across her chest and she was picking at her front teeth with her left thumb nail. She just stood there looking out to the Moors. A strong breeze blew straight in and Maleficent closed her eyes and tilted her head up. She held her arms out a bit. She felt the breeze blow across all the exposed areas of her body. "Oh that feels so nice. I could only imagine how this outfit will feel riding or flying." she thought to herself. But then it dawned on her, there probably will not be any more riding or flying. When the day after Aurora's 16th's birthday arrives, she plans to free Diaval.

A painful feeling came over her as she realized that without Diaval, she would no longer be able to ride or fly. Why am I feeling a growing need to have him in my life. I _don't_ want him to go. But I _have_ to free him.

But perhaps he would be gracious enough to give me one more _long_ flight.

Back inside the Rowan Tree...

"Aurora, you are killing me!" Diaval gritted his teeth.

"Diaval, what is the matter?"

"It's those dresses you keep making for her."

"What? Why? You don't like them?"

"No...I mean yes, they are beautiful, but you make them too 'showy'. "

"Showy?"

"Yes, they expose too much of her body. Makes me uncomfortable. Could you make something less revealing for her next time?"

"Well, it is the summer and the idea is to wear less on your skin to remain co..." Aurora interrupted herself and just then it clicked. "Oooohhhhhh! You _do_ find Godmother sexy in that outfit, huh? Aurora just thought back to her conversation with Maleficent in the bedroom earlier.

Diaval sat down by the table put his head in his hands.

"Well?" Aurora asked again. She could see that his cheeks were becoming flushed. He clearly was embarrassed.

Just then Robin flew in the window and called out to Aurora, "SWITCH." thus saving Diaval from having to answer Aurora.

"What do you mean, '_switch_' ?" Aurora asked.

"Go out and talk to my lady, I would like to have a word with Diaval before I leave."

"Oh, OK." Aurora got up and went outside.

Robin flew close to Diaval's face and stared him in the eyes. He looked up to his hair mussed up and he had a scared look on his face. Robin said, "She's hot, isn't she."

"Aurora? Yes, she is beautiful. But she is rather young and I really see her as just a friend or I would go as far and say a fledgling or daughter.

"Oh, No, No, No, you know who I mean."

Diaval ran his hand up his forehead pushing his hair back messing it up further.

"I can see it and Aurora can see it too. You are in love with her."

"Robin, that can't possibly be. What good is it to be in love with someone when that someone doesn't believe in true love!" Diaval realized that he raised his voice and that it might have carried off. Lowering his tone, he continued "There is nothing between us."

Robin thought to himself, 'Yeah right."

Back outside...

Maleficent asked Aurora, "Have you been taking an interest in Diaval?"

"No, Godmother, we are just good friends."

"He has been acting strange lately and since the two of you have been seeing a lot of each other, I figured he might have developed some feelings for you. Feelings beyond a friendship."

"Oh, no, Godmother, he even said he looks to me more as a daughter or fledgling."

"Hmmmmm, if that's the case, then I don't know why he is acting so strangely." Maleficent started to think a bit about what Robin was saying.

"Godmother?"

"Yes?"

"I think he has feelings for _you. _I think the reason he is acting strange is because he is falling in love with you."

"Preposterous! There is no such thing as true love."

"Ok, but you believe in caring, right."

"Yes"

"Ok then, how do you feel about him? I mean is there something you like about the way he looks."

Maleficent looked at Aurora with narrowed eyes and said, "You are not going to leave me alone about this, are you?"

"Nope!"

Maleficent paused for a while and then said, "I like his eyes...my favorite color, black."

"What about his body?"

Maleficent was growing uncomfortable with Aurora's questions, but answered her anyway, "I like his scars."

"Really? Why?"

Maleficent was growing more uncomfortable. "One time I ran my finger down one of his scars while he was sleeping. I just liked the way it felt under my finger."

Aurora giggled. "Oh! Is there anything else".

"Aurora, are you interrogating me for something?"

"No, I just want to know what you think about Diaval."

"Ok, Ok. Last answer...his arms. He has nice arms."

"Do you like to be held in his arms?"

Maleficent darted a shocked look and said, "Aurora!?...Stop!"

Just then their conversation was interrupted by Diaval storming out the door.

Fed up with the conversation, Diaval got up from the table and marched outside and headed straight for Maleficent. He looked at Maleficent's face, and she had somewhat of a soft, but stunned look, but at this point he just wanted to get out of there. He turned to Aurora and she was looking at Maleficent with an anxious look on her face.

"Mistress, please change me back to my true self", Diaval asked.

"Diaval, is there something you want to say to me?" Maleficent asked sternly.

Diaval seemed a bit stunned by that remark, but then he started to think about his coversation with Aurora. What did she say to her? But he decided to stay on track.

"Yes, I would like you to change me back to my self."

"Sure, if that is what you want."

Diaval eyes were drawn to her shoulders and he had an incredible urge to just reach out and hold her by the shoulders and plant a solid hard kiss on those ruby lips. He knew he had to get out of there and now.

With a wave of her hand and a yellow whisp, he was a raven again. He immediately flew off and headed towards the watering hole.

"What the heck's got into him?" Maleficent asked.

Aurora and Robin both shrugged their shoulders

"Darn it! I wanted to go riding with him tonight and now he's gone."

Robin and Aurora grinned at each other and started back to the house.

Robin whispered in Aurora's ear. "When you get a chance, I want to know what you found out."

Aurora whispered, "Same here."

Robin and Aurora glanced back and Maleficent stood with her arms crossed looking at them with narrow eyes.

"I think she knows something is up." Aurora whispered as they entered the house.

"Yeah, I think we better lay low for a while." Robin replied.

"Aurora!", Maleficent called out.

"Yes?"

"Not too much longer, its getting late and I have to take you back to the cottage."

Aurora's 16th birthday had finally arrived. This morning she was going to tell the 3 faeries that she was going to live with Maleficent and Diaval. Maleficent was trying to clean things up in the Rowan Tree to make some room for Aurora's things.

"Diaval, it looks like in the near future we are going to have to add another bedroom to my home. But for now I am just going to get things straightened up for Aurora's arrival.

"I could stay in my own nest and you two could sleep in your bedroom." Diaval suggested.

"Now you know Aurora will not go for that. We will use the large nest in the canopy."

"I guess I should be off and check on the cottage and wait for Aurora."

"Yes, go and do that. I have no idea when she is going to tell them and will need to be ready here."

Maleficent changed Diaval back into his raven form and he flew out of the Moors and headed towards the cottage, but then he stopped in mid flight when he caught Aurora yelling out to the wall. She seemed very upset and angry.

He flew down and perched in a tree next to her and cawed.

"Diaval, thank goodness you are here. I must speak to Godmother at once."

Uh Oh...Diaval thought to himself. The tone in her voice didn't sound good. Perhaps the three faeries were not going to allow her to live in the Moors after all. Maleficent would be disappointed. At any rate, sitting here and cawing wouldn't get him anywhere. He flew back to the Rowan Tree as fast as his wings could carry him...

"Somethings wrong my mistress", Diaval said a bit out of breath from flying so fast. "Aurora is requesting to meet you by the wall."

"Oh?

"I think it might have something to do with her living here with us. She wouldn't give me details, but only said for me to get you."

"Ok, then, let's go." She changed him back into a raven and grabbed her staff.

A short while later Diaval returned to Aurora and lifted his left wing as if to be pointing towards the wall.

The wall then parted and Maleficent emerged.

"I am here, Beastie, Diaval said you wanted to see me", she sounded concerned.

"When were you going to tell me I am cursed?"

Maleficent looked down, sighed, and placing her left hand on her forehead. Something _did _go wrong, those imbecilic 3 faeries must have told her, probably when she told them she was leaving. But what else they they told her who only knows.

Aurora had a stern look on her face she had come to her faerie godmother seeking the truth from the only person she knew she could trust, especially after all this time, her 3 aunties were actually faeries...faeries originally from the Moors. Everything they told her she didn't believe. They were telling her lies.

"Well, is it true?"

"It is", Maleficent said softly as she looked back up.

Aurora's heart sank, but she was now curious since her Godmother knew of the curse.

"Who would do such a terrible thing as to curse a baby?", she paused for a moment and then continued.

"They told me it was an evil faerie by the name of Maleficent."

Maleficent's heart sank and her eyes started to mist over, but she tried her best to hold her composure.

"Do you happen to know this Maleficent?"

"Yes, I do."

"Can you get her to lift the curse from me?"

"No...the curse cannot be broken."

"I want to see her and talk to her"

Maleficent's face grew from soft to sad, full of emotion.

"I can't"

"But WHY?"

Aurora began to shout, and this made Maleficent wince she started to turn her head away shamefully.

Aurora's eyes narrowed when a dreadful thought came to her mind. But the expression of anguish and regret on her Godmother's face gave her away. "Godmother...you never told me your given name, what is it?", Aurora asked.

Maleficent took a couple steps towards Aurora, "Beastie, I...

Given her godmother's hesitant response and a bad feeling came over her. She the said angrily, "Don't come near me. It is you isn't it? Maleficent is your name."

A pain flooded thorough Maleficent's heart as she spoke the words, "Yes, it is."

Aurora backed away in horror. Maleficent saw the look on her face, it was the face of the realization that she was betrayed. The same look Maleficent had on her face the moment she realized her wings were gone.

Maleficent took a few steps forward, "Wait, Aurora, there is something you need to know about your fath..."

"NO!" she snapped, tears started to roll down her cheek. "I trusted you, you were the one thing I looked forward to seeing every day. I thought you looked after me and cared for my whole life. You lied to me. You took me away from my parents and my true home."

With every word, Maleficent felt a knife was being driven deeper and deeper in her heart. She found herself leaning more and more with her weight on her staff.

"You are the evil that is in this world. It's You!"

Aurora then turned and ran off.

Maleficent wanted to warn Aurora about her father but a growing pain in her chest had her legs weaken to the point where she found herself sliding down her staff and she collapsed to the ground. Maleficent realized that in that one moment all of her well laid plans, the plotting, the revenge, the curse that couldn't be broken, everything that was so perfectly laid out was all dashed to the wind. In the end it wasn't Stefan that was suffering from her doing, but a poor innocent child. Moreover, she found herself suffering as well.

Diaval dropped down from his high perch and flew towards his mistress. Maleficent looked up at him coming towards her and waved her hand, he changed back into a man.

After hearing the whole conversation "What are we going to do now, my mistress?" Diaval asked.

"Let's go to the cottage."

When they arrived at the cottage, it was empty, furthermore the stable door in the back was open and blowing back and forth in the wind. Aurora must have taken the horse. Maleficent knew already where she was going. She was going to the castle to meet her father. Yet she still didn't know the full truth of what Stefan, her father did to her.

"Diaval, we must find that boy." Maleficent said sternly. "He is our only hope of breaking the curse in the event we fail to get to Aurora in time."

"I thought you said there was no such thing as true love's kiss?"

"I did, but I am finding out that I am mistaken about a great number of things. I know there is no such thing as true love's kiss for me. But what if there is for her...or for him. If there is the slightest possibility that the curse could be broken, then I would like to take that possibility."

"Understood." Diaval said with a slight smile on his face. He knew they were going to do something right, they were going to try to break the curse on Aurora.

"I am going back to the Rowan Tree to gather a few things. You will fly far and wide and once you found Philip, come back here to the cottage. I will wait here in the event Aurora or the faeries return and Diaval...please do find him." Maleficent had a very urgent tone to her voice.

"I will do my very best my mistress" he responded.

Maleficent put her hands on his shoulders and looked deep into his dark eyes.

"I know you will, you were always good at finding things out for me. But I need you now more than ever. We cannot fail."

"Yes, my mistress."

With that she turned him back to a raven and he flew off in the direction of the castle.

"Please find him, my pet, my good friend." Maleficent said softly to herself.

Maleficent walked back to the Rowan Tree and she sat down on her bed and tried to get everything sorted out in her head. She needed a plan and a good one. She realized that she wouldn't have time to explain everything to Philip and she would probably need to put him under a sleep spell. That would mean he would have to be in tow, so going by dragon would be out of the question. That plan was out now since Aurora was in the castle. Furthermore, keeping a lid on the dragon might prove beneficial. Going by horse was the only way.

Maleficent looked up and saw the riding outfit that Aurora had her try on last night was draped over the chair.

"It looks like I am going to need this." She quickly changed into the outfit and also grabbed her shorter black robe. She put some of her spell casting items in the pockets along with a small note book of some spells she might need.

Then she started off to the cottage. As she got to the edge of the hill where the Rowan Tree stood. Maleficent turned around and took a good look at her home.

"Why do I get the feeling this is the last time I am going to see it." she said softly.

Maleficent waited at the cottage. The first couple hours seemed like an eternity. No Aurora, No faeries, No Diaval.

The next couple hours, Maleficent couldn't sit still and she started to rifle through the cottage seeing if there is something she might find that could be of use. She went through Aurora's room thinking her luck would be better there. At the foot of her bed there was a cabinet and in that cabinet were the books that Aurora mentioned.

"Ahhh, perhaps I could pass the time with some reading."

"Modern dresses For Modern Women." Hmmm, that must be the clothing book.

"Open Flame by Gordon Wolfram" Hmmm, a cookbook I presume.

"Packin' Fudge by Phil McCrack." I have a funny feeling I don't want to know what that one is about.

She then noticed some of the romance books that Aurora was talking about.

"One Steamy Night by Alotta Fahgyna" Maleficent flipped through the pages of the book. She read little bits and pieces of the book and her eyes widened with every turn of the page.

"This certainly isn't appropriate reading material for a 16 year old." She said as she fumbled her grip on the book and it fell to the floor.

Upon picking the book up it fell on the last page and her eyes fixed on the last line on the book. "He kissed her long and deep and she knew that this was _true love's kiss_."

Maleficent slammed the book closed and sat down on Aurora's bed. Humans write about true love's kiss? Oh dear, can I be mistaken about that too? Humans believe in true love's kiss. Maybe, just maybe. Oh Diaval please find Philip.

Maleficent laid down on Aurora's bed and continued to read the romance book until she noticed the sun's position outside. It was already late afternoon and more than half the day had already expired. They only had half a day left. Still no sign of Aurora, the 3 pixies, or Diaval.

Maleficent was growing concerned and she was wringing her hands.

She went back to the main room and began to pace, getting more nervous with each lap.

Then she started to think bad things. What if something went wrong. What if Diaval's in trouble and cannot get back to me. I should have put the Moors on alert, I can't leave now, what if Diaval shows up.

Just then there came a knock on the door.

"Aurora is that you?" Maleficent asked as got up to open the door.

"It is I, Philip, and yes, I come for Aurora".

Maleficent opened the door and Prince Philip's eyes flew open as wide as dinner plates. He stepped back in fear with every step Maleficent moved forward, obviously frightened by the horned figure that stood before him.

"I am sorry, my lady, I can see I have disturbed you, I clearly have the wrong house." his voice quavered as his eyes kept being drawn to Maleficent's horns.

He started to turn and run, but Maleficent pulled some gold dust from her pocket and blew it in Prince Philip's direction. As he grabbed for his horse, he slumped over it fast asleep.

"Ok, so Philip came to me. But now I need Diaval. With Philip here by me this is probably the last place Diaval will look. I need a beacon." Maleficent thought to herself. She went back into the house to get her staff.

There were some clouds in the sky she picked one that was over the cottage. She slammed her staff down on the ground and green bolt of lightning shot up to the cloud. From the cloud several other green bolts shot out in every direction.

"Diaval, Please see this."

Maleficent went over to Philip's horse and he was still leaning over it. She pulled on his his arms over the other side so that he was draped over the horses body. She used a little of her magic to tie his hands to his feet with vines and then used some more magic to create more vines to secure his body to the saddle.

No sooner than she completed her work, she began to hear a raven caw repeatedly in the distance.

"He had seen the beacon! He is coming!"

Diaval swooped down over the cottage and saw his mistress with a horse and someone was draped over it. As soon as he was in range, Maleficent turned him into a man.

Diaval was completely out of breath and he put an arm around Maleficent's shoulders for support. She put her arm around his waist.

"I saw the green lightning. I figured you were in trouble and I came back as fast as I could. "

"Well, Well, it appears our Philip came to me" Maleficent said with a smile on her face.

"I sure wish I would have known that, I wouldn't have been flying around 3 kingdoms trying to look for him." Diaval said

Maleficent tied Philip's horse to a tree and they went into the cottage and sat down while Diaval caught his breath.

"I need to change you into a horse. We are going to the castle taking Philip with us. We don't have much time, I can see the sun is starting to go down."

"Ok, my mistress. Just a few more minutes."

Maleficent sat growing impatient, but she knew that Diaval needed to catch his breath for the next long run he had to do for the night. She untied her robe. Diaval saw that she was wearing the outfit Aurora gave her last night. With her robes part way open, Diaval trained his eyes on the cutouts that exposed Maleficent's mid section. For some reason this actualy helped him calm down faster and relax, where as the night before it had the opposite effect. Soon his breathing returned to normal.

Maleficent got up and went outside. Diaval followed.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, my mistress."

"Into a horse," she said while waving her hand.

Maleficent went over to get Philip's horse and she tied the reins to some vines which she wrapped around the lower part of Diaval's body just before his hind legs. She checked it to be secure along with the vines she tied Philip down with earlier.

"Ok, Diaval, I am ready"

He looked back at her and nodded his head up and down.

Diaval crouched down bending his one leg out and Maleficent hopped on to his back. "Thank You, Diaval. And now we must make haste to Stefan's castle."

They started off and made their way out of the north woods. Maleficent stayed close to the border of the forest rather than risk going on the main road and be seen. There was a clearing that went behind a group of trees and Maleficent used this to gain some ground on the castle. The trees were a natural view block so it would be difficult to see anyone approaching. While both Maleficent and Diaval were black and wouldn't be seen, Philip's horse was predominately tan colored so they had to take measures to be discreet.

They were halfway to the castle when Maleficent noticed that the sun's bottom edge was beginning to touch the horizon. They were running out of time. Suddenly, Maleficent could feel a throbbing in her finger. She knew it was her feedback from the curse. She knew that Aurora, wherever she was, would feel the throbbing too and would seek out what the curse wants her to find...a spinning wheel.

Even though Diaval told her that Stefan ordered all spinning wheels destroyed, she feared that there might be one or even two still not accounted for and the curse would match Aurora up with one of them. These thoughts filled Maleficent's mind and her heart began to ache. Diaval looked back every now and then to his mistress and she had a worried look on her face. Her face became more racked with emotion as she her eyes were fixed on the setting sun.

"Faster Diaval! Faster!" her voice rang out to his ears. He was already running at a pretty good clip. He could feel Maleficent's legs get tighter around his body. While he liked the feeling, he tried to put his emotions aside for they had a task to complete...they had to save Aurora. With that he shot forward going even faster then he ever had before. But there was another problem...Philip's horse had difficulty keeping up and the reins leading out to his horse pulled taught every so often. This was the best they can do.

Diaval soon was starting to get out of breath and started to slow down a bit.

"Faster Diaval!", she called out again.

With every ounch of energy he could muster he pushed forward, he hung his mouth open gasping for more air.

The sun was three quarters set and the throbbing in Maleficen'ts finger intensified. They were right on the outer wall of the castle and then it happened. Maleficent felt a push to her finger and then the throbbing was gone.

Diaval reared up as the last top edge of the sun disappeared beyond the horizon. He looked up to his mistress and her eyes misted over and she placed her forehead on the back of his neck.

"It is done, Diaval...The curse...It has been fulfilled."


	13. Chapter 13: Le Conflit Royale Finale

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 13 Le Conflit Royale Finale (The Final Royal Conflict)

"Back Door, huh?" Maleficent asked.

"Yes, my mistress" Diaval answered.

She looked up the castle wall. The castle was no longer the castle Maleficent remembered when she flew high above the moors and looked down upon it. Its ornate stonework was mostly covered in iron for most of the lower structure. The parapets had iron spikes jutting out from them. Scaling the wall would have nearly been impossible. Diaval and Maleficent were positioned near a solitary wood and iron door that lie between the north and south entrances. A small retractable cross bridge was in the down position...almost as if inviting someone to enter through that door.

"I don't like this" Diaval said. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Diaval, this is my doing and my battle, I can do this alone."

Maleficent waved her hand over her staff and raised Philip off of his horse and floated him across the bridge.

"You don't have to come, If you don't want to." Maleficent said, "I can change you back into your raven form and you can wait here."

"You know after all this time I am not going to let you go in there alone. I would not let harm come to you."

"I know", Maleficent answered nonchalantly.

"So, if you know, then why did say I don't have to come."

"I wanted to give you a choice."

"Not much of a choice really. But really I think it would be nice if you said, 'Please come with me, Diaval. We are stronger and can do anything when we are together.' "

"Oh..." Maleficent raised an eyebrow and found she was at a loss for words as she found her heart beating a little bit faster and harder, not because of the situation they were going into, but she found Diaval's words rather touching. Words a true friend would say. She just glanced at Diaval giving him a little 'shy' smirk for just a couple seconds just as they were entering the castle.

"Ok, silence now", Maleficent said.

Diaval lead the way since he was familiar with a good part of the castle from his numerous trips. He knew were Aurora's room was and he slowly lead Maleficent to her room. There was very light activity in the castle and mostly everyone was turning in for the night. Every now and then a guard did walk by and Maleficent and Diaval ended up hiding against the wall in some shadow. She had Philip floating high overhead. But Stefan had also lined the interor walls with iron and Maleficent could feel the searing pain penetrating her back when she leaned against the wall.

"Uhhh!", she let out a stifled cry once the guards passed.

"Are you hurt, my mistress?"

"I'm Ok, lets go."

They approached a winding staircase and went up two stories. Around the corner Maleficent could hear the familiar chatter of Knotgrass, Flittle and Thistetwit of which were back to their faerie selves. There were a few young men in the hall and Knotgrass ushered them into the room one by one.

"Next one!" Knotgrass called out as Flittle and Thistletwit pushed another guy out of the room.

Once the last guy in line was ushered in and then out, all three faeries gathered in the hall and hovered in mid air.

"I don't know what we are going to do", Flittle said.

"We have been searching all day for handsome men of means that could possibly wake her," Thistletwit said.

Knotgrass looked deep in thought and then flew back into the room. Flittle and Thistletwit followed.

"Now is our chance," Maleficent said to Diaval while hiding in the shadows.

She floated Philip just to the right of the open door and set him down on the floor.

"Awake", Maleficent said as she tipped her staff towards Philip.

Slowly Philip woke up looking dazed and wondering where he was.

Knotgrass flew out of the room and then noticed Philip.

"What? Who are you? I could have sworn there wasn't anyone out here a moment ago." she said.

"I am Philip, I have been sent to see King Stefan by my father King John from Ulstead."

"A Prince?", Knotgrass and Maleficent said at the same time. Knotgrass looked around wondering about the apparent echo as she said "A Prince."

Maleficent put her hand over her mouth as she realized she said it too loudly as clearly Knotgrass heard her her as well. "Ooops", she whispered to Diaval. "He's a prince on top of everything. This _has_ to work." maleficent said to herself as she looked on."

"Yes, although I am not comfortable with the title and prefer to be called only by Philip."

"Well, you are in the right place then Prince Philip" Knotgrass said as bowed she pulled on his arm sleeve towards the bedroom doors.

"This isn't the grand hall."

"No, but I am sure you are here because you heard the news that King Stefan's daughter Aurora has fallen to a curse making her sleep out the rest of her days. However, true love's kiss could break the spell."

"No, I am not sure why King Stefan wanted to see me. I was sure it was something for my father as was the last time I was here." Prince Philip paused. "Did you say, Aurora?"

"Yes"

Prince Philip started to enter the bedroom and Knotgrass followed.

Maleficent motioned to Diaval to follow as well. The two followed in the shadows against the hallway and then sneaked into the bedroom while the the 3 faeries had their back turned to them. They slowly made their way behind a changing panel and they looked on through one of the panel's small openings.

Prince Philip walked over to the bed and was shocked to see that it was indeed the same Aurora he met the other day in the woods.

"Why, I know this woman. This is very same woman I met in the woods just a day ago but one. How can this be? I thought she was a peasant woman, but now she is dressed so beautifully."

"This is King Stefan's daughter, Aurora. You say you have met her before?

"Yes, we talked for a short while in the woods while I was trying to find the castle the other day."

"Did you have feelings for her?" Knotgrass said.

Both Flittle and Thistletwit looked on in anticipation. Not only was this a Prince, but apparently the two HAD met and more then likely it was possible some bond formed.

"Yes, I think she is the most beautiful woman I have laid eyes on."

"Do you feel love for her?"

"Yes, in fact tonight I went by what I thought was her home in the woods to seek her out before I continued on to the castle. And now I ended up here and _she's_ here."

"Prince Philip, in due time I will explain everything, but right now I need you to kiss Aurora."

"What?!" Prince Philip said shockingly.

"Yes, you must" Flittle said.

"I am not sure if this is what the King wants me to do, perhaps I should consult with him first."

"I am sure it is. All eligible men are to see the princess...the king's order. You are a prince and perhaps that is why he sent for you."

"Ok, what must I do."

"Just give Aurora a heart felt kiss." Knotgrass answered.

"I only just met her"

"Do you love her?"

"Yes, I do, I wanted to love her from when I first saw her."

Maleficent and Diaval's eyes widened and both smiled at each other. Both were anticipating that Philip could indeed be the one to break the curse.

The three faeries also looked hopefully all three holding hands together.

"Go, then my Prince," Knotgrass said, "Give her the best kiss you possibly can."

Prince Philip was hesitant as first and just about when he was near Aurora's lips, the gentleman that he was spoke up, "I don't feel this is right as I do not have her permission."

Maleficent's eyes widened and she mouthed to Diaval, hoping he could read her lips. "He's a gentleman just like you."

Diaval noticed the deep emotion in her eyes when she mouthed the words to him. Her kind words were causing some feelings to well up inside of him and he began to start to breath heavier while he stared at the side of her face. Maleficent glanced over to him and mouthed, "You are breathing too loud...they will hear". Diaval quickly looked away and placed his hand over his nose and mouth, stifling the sound. Maleficent nodded that it was good.

Diaval thought to himself, "This is getting very bad now if her words are now starting to cause these feelings." He fought off his feelings and concentrated on the task at hand and he began to breathe normally.

Meanwhile the faeries were getting impatient with Prince Philp.

"JUST KISS HER!" They all yelled out.

With that he leaned over and their lips met. It was a kiss straight out of a romance novel. Perfect in every way.

Everyone in the room held their breath in anticipation. Maleficent grabbed Diaval's hand and their fingers meshed. As the kiss progressed, Maleficent's grip on Diaval grew tighter and tighter. She took a quick glance at Diaval's face, of which was wincing in pain.

"Oh, sorry!" Maleficent mouthed as she let up on her grip.

The kiss was done and everyone waited. There wasn't any magic in the room, Aurora didn't awaken.

"Was something supposed to happen? Why didn't she wake up."

They still waited as the seconds ticked by...still nothing.

"Oh! I thought you would have been the one for sure!" Knotgrass sounded disappointed.

The other two faeries hung their heads low.

"Let's go" Knotgrass said, "We have to come up with something else. We will take you to King Stefan now."

The four of them exited the room closing the door behind them.

Maleficent dipped her head down until her forehead was touching the top of the dressing screen. She placed her hands on screen, her fingers intertwining with the latice work. The sleeves fell away, exposing her forearms. Her breathing became heavy.

Diaval said, "I agree with the faeries, I thought he would have been the one for sure as well." He hung his head low and said, "Maybe you were right, my mistress, there is no such thing as true love's kiss."

He looked to his mistress and her eyes were shut tight. There was a visible look of pain on her face. He could hear a creaking sound come from the screen as he saw her fingers grasp the wooden lattice harder and harder. He could see her forearm muscles become more tense and visible and her veins were bulging out. Then the wood began to splinter and the lattice began to give under her right hand.

"Stop! My mistress...someone might hear." Diaval whispered. Then without a second thought he ran his fingers down her left forearm, his forefinger followed the largest vein from her hand down the inside of her arm.

She immediately stopped and let up on her grip. She looked at him and her eyes were glistened over and a look of anger dominated her face. She let out a sigh and then stepped out from behind the screen and looked around the room. The room was a child's room filled with toys that were never played with. A familiar looking bassinet was tucked away in the corner, only covered slightly by a light see through sheet of cloth. Many items in the room had layers of dust on it from many years of neglect.

"This is all my doing", Maleficent thought to herself. "It is all my fault that I took away her childhood. I DID take her away from her family."

She looked to Diaval, "Why didn't I listen to you Diaval. You are so smart and knew this. You told me not to put a curse on her. You were right after all. All I do is ruin everything."

Diaval, said, "My mistress, I..."

"Shhhhh", Maleficent interrupted as something caught her attention. It was a doll house that was placed against the wall next to the bed. She walked over to the doll house with her eye trained on a small crumpled wooden object that lay in front of the doll house.

She bent over and picked up the object and examined it closely in the light.

It was the remains of a childs toy. It was a life like miniature replica of a spinning wheel complete with spindle and needle. A dried blood stain could be seen on the tip of the needle.

"So, this is how the curse was fulfilled...an overlooked child's toy." she said.

A look of anger filled her face and then she threw the remains of the spinning wheel into the corner of the room dashing it to pieces as it hit the wall.

She slowly walked over to the bed. Diaval kept his distance. She looked down at Auroras sleeping body as it is now and will be forever as she would remain asleep forever. Prince Philip was her last hope and now there was nothing else left.

Diaval looked on as the look on Maleficent's face turned from despiration to sadness.

She knelt down close to her ear.

"I am full of sadness, dear Beastie." she said with her voice very soft and wavering. "If I only known. But I was foolish and was so wrapped up in my hatred and revenge I thought the best possible way to get back at Stefan was through you. I just didn't know that once I followed your life and watched you grow up that I would have grown so close to you. You enjoyed my life and my world and seen it as a place of beauty. You never wanted to take, but always gave. It was through you that I thought perhaps it was possible to finally create a peace between my world and yours, but now I have ruined that with my shortsightedness. You have opened up a place in my heart I have not seen in many years. A part of me that I thought was gone forever." Maleficent paused as she rested her cheek against Aurora's and then she continued, "You stole what was left of my heart, and now I lost you forever."

Diaval found a pain harbored itself within his chest and this pain seemed to extend to his eyes. He could feel his own eyes were welling up and tears began to roll from them. The frequency of how his tears were falling increased and he started to sniffle.

Maleficent looked up to him her eyes also were wet with tears. She stood up and continued to look at Aurora. A single tear was rolling down from each eye.

"You too, my mistress?"

"Yes, and this is the first time I seen you this way, Diaval."

"I honestly can't help it, my mistress. This never happened to me before. But hearing you say those things. "You love her..."

"No, Diaval," she interrupted. "You seen yourself, Prince Philip couldn't even wake her up, there is no such thing as true love's kiss."

"Yes", Diaval's heart sank. "I know, you have said it many times and proved your point."

Having said her words as her final goodbye. Maleficent turned to walk away from the bed with still tears in her eyes. Then, all of a sudden, she looked up and she had the look of hope on her face that shown through her tears as her eyes turned up to Diaval.

"Diaval! It must be you!" she said excitedly. "You are always such a gentleman and treated her well. You were always there and kept her company growing up. She always called you 'pretty bird.' You were there all her life. I always believed there was something between you two. I think she loved you!"

"My mistress, I assure you, we didn't have such feelings. Yes, I enjoyed her company and we did have fun growing up, but it was more like a friendsh...".

"Shoosh, Diaval. Go and kiss her."

Diaval had a shocked look on his face and at first seemed to refused but then Maleficent wiped her tears away and her face grew very stern. She went up to his ear and gritted her teeth. "I am ordering you to kiss her _now_."

"Yes, my mistress...if that is what you wish."

"Yes, I do wish it. And make it a warm heart felt kiss."

Diaval went over to the bed leaned over and placed his lips on hers. The feeling of his lips touching hers seemed very different to Diaval. Her lips felt very soft against his. He began to feel a bit strange, and he didn't linger very long. So he pulled away and watched. ...Nothing. He then looked over to his Mistress with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Maleficent stood there with narrow eyes and with her arms across her chest her fingers were drumming against her arm.

"You call that a kiss Diaval?"

"I never kissed anyone before, so...

"That was pathetic."

"Well, I...

"Oh, come now, are you that naïve that I have to show you everything?" Maleficent said as she dropped her arms to her side and marched over to the bed.

She leaned over and thought to herself, "Well, if Diaval's kiss doesn't work than this is my goodbye my dearest Aurora. She closed her eyes and then wrapped her lips around her cheek. Diaval couldn't help but admit to himself that his mistress's kiss was indeed just as perfect as Prince Philip's. Then a thought popped into his head as he wished it was her kissing _him_ that way. It was a fleeting thought, but as he watched his mistress kiss Aurora, he tried to practice moving his lips in the same way.

Maleficent looked up and said, "Now that, my pet, is a proper kiss."

She started to walk back and said, "Now you try it that..." Maleficent was interrupted by a sudden green glow that filled the room with light. The green glow came down up on the bed and than dissipated.

Maleficent looked down to Aurora and saw some movement under her eyelids and then her eyes fluttered open.

A surprised look filled Maleficent's face as Aurora was there looking her straight in the eye wide awake. But now Maleficent felt a fear come over her as she remembered the last time she saw Aurora awake, their meeting didn't end so well. But there wasn't a look of hate or anger in Aurora's eyes, but rather happiness. She had an ear to ear smile.

"Hello Faerie Godmother."

A look of shock came over Maleficent's face. Not only was she shocked that Aurora was now awake, but she also didn't hate her and appeared to welcome her. Regardless some miracle took place and she once again was looking into Aurora's eyes. A smile came to her face.

"Hello Beastie."

Diaval stood by and tears started to roll down his face again, but these were tears of happiness.

"It was _you_, my mistress. You woke up Aurora and broke the curse. True love DOES exist and breaking the curse is proof of that. Your love for Aurora, your kiss of true love for her broke the curse."

Emotion started to fill his mistress' face as she said, "It..it..it...can't be. How? How can this be?"

"It has to be a mother's love for her daughter. Family love."

"But I am not her mother."

"No, but when Aurora thought you were her Faerie Godmother, you accepted the role. As such, the curse must have accepted you as her mother figure. That was enough for your kiss to break the curse."

Maleficent collapsed onto the bed. Her shocked face met Aurora's. She grinned back to her nodding in agreement to Diaval. "You always were brilliant, Diaval. I..."

Aurora quickly sat up in the bed and threw her arms around Maleficent and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Oh...Beastie...I" She just closed her eyes and put her arms around Aurora.

Diaval found he was beginning to sob uncontrollably. "Uh, ladies, I think I need a little help here."

The two women looked up to Diaval as he was fighting with his eyes wiping away tears that kept coming.

"Oh, Diaval, you have such a big heart." Aurora said with a smile and giggled. "You are just touched."

He smiled back and said, "I am happy to see you are back with us."

"Faerie Godmother, you too. I never seen you like this. You have become so emotional."

"I am not having an easy time right now, Beastie." Maleficent said softly. "I realized that I have harbored an anger and a taste for revenge for far too long and I almost lost you because of it. I realized that these past 16 years everything I thought I was doing right was actually all wrong. And it took this gentleman here to help me realize that." Maleficent pointed to Diaval."

"I...I...was just pointing out the obvious, my mistress." Diaval stuttered a bit, standing in disbelief at the kind words that were pouring out of his mistrees' mouth.

"Yes, and I was a fool that I didn't listen. I was so darn stubborn and set in my ways. I just wanted to get back at Stefan so bad."

Aurora then spoke up. "I have much to tell you Faerie Godmother, and sadly most of it is not good news."

"Oh?" Maleficent said as both her and Diaval turned to Aurora with interested eyes.

Aurora began with how she initally met her father and he was extremely annoyed that she showed up a day early. Furthermore, instead of hugging and kissing her, he forcefully grabbed her by the arm and practically tossed her in the bedroom, locking her in with a guard outside. She was not allowed to leave the room.

Aurora showed Maleficent the black and blue marks on her arms where her father grabbed her so hard.

Maleficent looked down at her arm and saw the visible finger print markings. She began to grow angry.

Then Aurora said she eventually met up with her aunts...of whom were now in their true faerie form. They told her the true story of how her father fell in love with her Faerie Godmother and then betrayed her and took her wings.

Later she met the captain of the guards, Sir Joseph, and he told her that her father repeatedly smacked her mother in anger and one time he beat her very badly. He believed that was the real cause of her hemorages and and eventual death. But it was played off that her bad pregnancy caused it to protect the kingdom's interests.

Both Maleficent and Diaval looked on in shock at he words pouring from Aurora's mouth.

Tears filled her eyes as she said, "Oh, godmother, my daddy is a horrible man. He wasn't happy to see me at all. In fact from what I heard about my real mom I fear for my own self in this place. Please get me out of here and take me back to my _real_ home. I want to be with you and Diaval. You have been near me all my life anyway. While I am sad that I never met my real mom, you are the closest thing I have to a mom and I really need you right now."

Diaval saw that Maleficent just stood there shocked and while she it appeared she wanted to say something moving her lips, her eyes were welling up again. She darted a look over to him for support.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Yes, more than anything. I should have never come here."

"I am not sure if we can get out the same way we came back in." Maleficent finally said, her voice laced with emotions taking in everything Aurora said.

"I know! Godmother, you can change Diaval into the dragon and fly us out of here."

"Beastie, Diaval is very large as a dragon and I couldn't possibly change him here. I would need an area that is large and open", Maleficent said.

"No, No. There is a large terrace that is off this wing through the main hall. It is not far off."

"Diaval, do you think you could carry us both?" Maleficent asked.

"Yes, I believe so. Flying with you alone was no trouble at all, so I don't imagine it would be that much harder to fly with two people. But we don't have the harness. It would be extremely dangerous at best."

"I will just have to wrap my arms and legs around your neck Diaval, and Aurora would wrap herself around my body. You would only need to fly a short distance to get us safely into the Moors. Just fly slow and steady."

"So then that is the plan?" Diaval asked looking at Maleficent. "What about Stefan? You are going to miss your chance to finally end what he has done to you."

"Diaval, as much as I want to do that all these past 16 years, we must get Aurora out of here."

Diaval then suggested, "Perhaps you might be able to speak with him? He might listen now seeing that Aurora has awaken from the curse and is alive and well."

"No! No! He will kill Godmother on sight. He has an intense hatred for her, we have to get her out of here." Aurora began to plead. "You will not believe all the bad things he says about her."

Maleficent's eyes narrowed and she just gave him a blank stare. "She's right Diaval. I know you want to be a gentleman and do the right thing, but not with Stefan. Haven't you been listening to what she said? I don't think she is safe here. Goodness only knows what would happen if Stefan and I met anyway. I probably will do something I will regret once again. Right now it is in my best interest to get you and Aurora out here."

Maleficent picked up her staff. She gave Aurora a slight tap on the head and a black cloak formed itself around Aurora. "It will help you hide in the shadows, Beastie."

"Thank you, Godmother."

"Diaval, I am going to change you into your true form and you fly out the window and meet us on the terrace. The less of us that are in the halls the better."

"Yes, my mistress."

She waved her hand and Diaval transformed into his true self. He flew onto the bed and looked back and forth to Aurora and his mistress. Maleficent opened up the window. Diaval took to wing and flew out the window.

"Best haste to you and stay hidden, my friend." Maleficent whispered with a worried look on her face as she closed the window.

"Ok, at least one of us is safe", Maleficent said.

Aurora couldn't help but notice that her godmother's recent tone of voice and her thoughts seemed to have become very expressive as of late. She has become more concerned about the people that are close to her.

"Godmother, I have noticed there has been some great changes in you since that night I said I wanted to live with you. You seem to be showing your feelings more. I never seen these feelings from you before. Was it something I said that night?"

Maleficent looked down to the floor with her hand still on the window latch. She wanted to tell Aurora that something _did_ happen that night, but she pushed those feeling aside to concentrate on the task at hand.

She answered, "I know Beastie and I am not proud of these emotional swings I am having of late, but I will explain later, we must go now."

"Yes, Godmother."

The two of them exited the bedroom and kept close to the shadows against the walls. They slowly approached the main junction between the great hall, west wing, and terrace.

"It is just a short ways ahead", Aurora whispered.

As they neared the opening, they peered around the corner. Aurora noted that earlier this junction was bustling with activity and now it was nearly deserted. Every now and then a single guard walked by.

"I have a bad feeling about this", Aurora whispered again.

"Diaval said the same thing to me earlier as we entered the castle. Stay close behind me."

Maleficent started to walk into the interection, she kept looking around for any visible movements in the shadows.

"Go to the right, it will lead you straight into the terrace."

Maleficent looked back and nodded. The two followed the shadow against the wall. Every so often Maleficent would bump up against the iron covered wall and a searing pain would cause her to grab her right shoulder and her eyes winced in pain.

"You Ok, Godmother?" Aurora whispered.

Maleficent nodded, 'Yes'.

Maleficent could see the roof open up to sky, just ahead letting in the light from the moon that was rising high in the night sky. As they reached the clearing Maleficent whispered. "Keep an eye out for Diaval, he will not caw. Once I see him I can turn him into the dragon and we can go."

Maleficent didn't hear an answer and the space behind her and Aurora felt too wide. She looked back to see that Aurora was gone!

Shock and horror coursed through Maleficent's veins as she frantically was looking around and into corners around and around the wall they were just following.

"Beastie!" She whispered. "Where are you, Beastie?"

She saw a shadow on the opposite side of the hall and was convinced that it was Aurora and she headed across the open area to see who or what the shadow was.

Just then she heard a mans voice yell out from the opposite side of the intersection. "OUCH!" and then the door opened to the main hall and Aurora poked her head out, but it was obvious that she was being pulled back.

"Godmother, run! It's a trap!"

Maleficent started to run towards Aurora's voice. She carefully opened the door to the grand hall. It appeared to be deserted and dimly lit. She looked to the left and then the right as to possible ways that Aurora could have been pulled off to. She then heard a faint girls muffled yell come from ahead, almost as if from behind the thrones. Against her better judgement she moved forward. She started to hear some more shuffling noises ahead. This was followed by another "ouch".

"Get out of here, now!", Aurora screamed.

Maleficent paused, and thought things over. At first she wanted to press on and get to Aurora, but then there were other shuffling sounds and she decided to heed Aurora's advice. She turned back to leave the room when she heard a loud clank of something metal, something large. She looked up to find a large mesh of metal falling straight down on top of her. The stinging sensation as the net rested on her body was all to familiar. It _was_ a net, a net made of iron. Almost immediately she was brought to her knees. She could feel the power being drained from her body. The pain was becoming unbearable as she sank lower and lower to the ground. She collapsed into a fetal position on the ground.

From behind the thrones emerged one of the soldiers holding Aurora with one hand over her mouth and the other around her body. King Stefan emerged from between the two thrones and made his way towards her.

As he walked out of the darkness and into the light, Maleficent got a good look at him.

He had grown much older over the years. His redish brown hair was now mostly grey. He was considerably wider in his midsection too from the last time she saw him. His hair was unkept and he had grown a good sized beard of which it too was mosly grey. He was dressed from the neck all the way down to his feet in an iron & steel armor.

He raised his hands up into the air and said, "Beautiful, Beautiful. This worked out well. Well done everybody! I finally caught the beast!" There was some laughter and cheering among the soldiers and guards as he leaned over to Maleficent reached out and grabbed at one of her horns. She tried to cringe back further into the net, but it was no use, she found it very difficult to move at all. He violently pushed at her horn tossing her head to the side.

"Father! Please don't hurt her!" Aurora yelled out managing to get her mouth free.

Maleficent looked up and saw Aurora.

"Oh, my _dear_ daughter, I intend to do more than that." Stefan snapped. "But now after all these years and all the torment. I think I am going to have a little fun first."

"Tormet!?" Aurora shouted, "You were the one that tormented her."

King Stefan raised is foot and pushed against Maleficent's shoulder, pushing her further to the ground.

Maleficent let out a faint, "Uhhh" after being kicked and she found herself nearly flat on the ground, a searing pain ran down her back, arms and legs from where the net laid.

"NO!" Aurora shouted as she finally wrestled away from the soldier and ran full steam and straight into her father's side. She knocked him off balance but he kept his footing. "Leave her alone!" she screamed. Aurora tried to lift the net off of Maleficent, but Stefan reached over and gave Aurora a shove pushing her to the ground.

"Uhh!" exclaimed Aurora.

Maleficent's put a scowl on her face at what she was witnessing, Stefan pushing is own daughter around.

He then walked over to her and picked her up by the arm. Maleficent could clearly see the force with which he picked her up as his fingers were pushing deep into Aurora's skin. Her breathing formed a distinct hissing sound as her face became flushed with anger.

"Aurora, you are out of your mind siding with that monster."

"Daddy, you are hurting me. Let me go!"

"Keep her restrained, Joseph. Put a cuff on her if you have to, but make sure she doesn't get loose again." Stefan said to the soldier that was originally holding Aurora.

Maleficent was completely outraged by what she saw and she mustered up all her strength to push the net up so she could sit up.

"Monster? Stefan?" Maleficent called out angrily. "YOU are the monster. How could you treat your own daughter that way. Don't take your anger out on her. It is me you want."

"She needs to be disciplined. What have you done to her? Some kind of bewitched spell that is causing her to turn against me, her own father?"

"No Stefan, your daughter is bright enough to know the difference between right and wrong. She knows that even after one day, you already push her aside much in the same way you did with me. You betrayed me and broke my heart and now you are doing the same with her."

There was hush among the crowd as many were confused as to what Maleficent was saying. She once more collapsed to the ground having no more energy left to even speak.

"Time for some fun" Stefan said as he pulled out his iron knife and approached Maleficent once more. "Let's start by cutting the monster's tongue out."

"No! No! No!" Aurora cried out, "Please daddy, please don't hurt her. Let her go!" Aurora started to thrash and throw punches at the guard, Joseph, that was restraining her. Another guard approached and she kicked him to the ground.

"Lock her up! But I want her to see as I take care of this monster."

Maleficent looked around to see where her staff went off to. She let go of it as the net fell.

"Looking for that?" Stefan said as he motioned to a soldier that was positioned behind Maleficent. Somehow he managed to get her staff. Without her staff, there were many limitations on what spells she could cast and other magic she could do.

As the two guards finally restrained Aurora, a third came over to put cuffs on her.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity Diaval sat perched looking over the terrace. There was no sign of Maleficent, nor Aurora. They should have come out by now. He began to feel something was wrong. It was taking too long. Perhaps they were captured? He took to wing to investigate. Upon flying over the highest tower, he could see movements from within the great hall. He decided to swoop down and into one of the smaller openings. There on the ground he saw his mistress pinned under an iron net and Aurora was struggling to get free from two guards. A third guard was approaching with some cuffs.

"Oh, no you don't", Diaval thought to himself. With that he dove down and without making a sound he headed straight for the guard with the cuffs. He opened his talons and aimed straight for the guard's face. "For once, it is MY turn to give the scars."

"Aahhhhhh!" The guard called out as Diaval began to claw at his face.

Stefan stood dumbfounded as to what he just saw. A bird, a raven, came out of nowhere attacked one of his guards.

"Your turn, you mindless idiot", Diaval thought and he headed straight for Stefan's face. But after seeing what happened with his guard, Stefan was much too aware to fall for the same trick and he managed to dodge Diaval. Diaval then swooped over to his mistress. She seemed barely concious. "Do it", Diaval thought. "Change me now my mistress."

Almost as if his thoughts were read, Maleficent raised her hand and with what little power she had left she said, "Into A Dragon".

"Yes!" Diaval exclaimed as he could feel his form change and grow. His beak grew longer and began to form a snout. All the while, his eyes were trained on Stefan. He opened his wings which nearly spread from wall to wall within the hall.

Stefan's eyes flew open as wide as dinner plates as he couldn't believe that where was once a bird now stood a dragon.

Stefan's soldiers began to scatter as they were completely caught by surprise. None of them were prepared for this.

Diaval opened his mouth and shot off fireballs in the direction of the doorways he saw the soldiers escape from. Seeing the doors were covered in iron, he kept breathing fire until the doors were red hot. He was hoping that he sealed them shut by melting the iron to the frame. He did the same to the main door on the opposite side of the hall.

"No!" King Stefan shouted as he watched Diaval one by one began to cut off his soldiers, roasting anyone that got close to him. Diaval wasn't out to kill any of Stefan's soldiers, he was just trying to keep them at bay. A little toasting here or there wouldn't really hurt...or would it?

Just then Diaval felt an arrow hit him in the neck and it bounced off. He looked to the side slightly behind him and there was a single archer standing there. "You're kidding me, right? You think a stupid little arrow is going to penatrate my armored scales?" Diaval thought to himself. "Let's see if I can cook you in that can." Diaval barked up another fireball and caught him in the pants. "Ahhh a bullseye! Roast butt, everyone get your roast butt. Half off today at the castle." Diaval thought as he made fun of a typical market cry he recalled hearing. Seeing the archer go out another door, he breathed fire on that one too until it became red hot.

Diaval looked back and most of the soldiers dissipated. There was no sight of Aurora either. Just below and in front of him he saw his mistress very much in distress. He reached down and grasped the net with his teeth and lifted it off his mistress. He had noticed Stefan running off to the side and decided to throw the net on top of him. "Lets see how you like having a heavy net over you!" Diaval thought.

He then turned to his mistress and a saddened look came over his face. He could see she was hurt. He carefully looked around her body. His anger growing as he saw the red marks on his mistress's skin. He put out his foretalon as if given her a hand for her to pull herself up on.

"Thank you, Diaval. You are such a gentlema...dragon." she corrected herself.

Stefan managed to get out from the net and began to run off in the direction of the main interesection. Diaval heaved up a fireball that landed on the ground next to Stefan.

"Oh, no, Stefan. You are not going to get away that easily." Diaval thought to himself.

He decided to have a little fun. As Stefan ran to the left, he coughed up a fireball to just in front of him. Stefan stopped in his tracks and went the other way. Once again Diaval coughed up a fireball in front of him.

Hmmmm, I could do this all day! Diaval thought. He eventually had Stefan backed outside of the great hall. Diaval stomped over to the main doorway and sat down in front of it blocking it. Crossing his fore arms across his chest. He let out a deep...HUMMPH! And nodded his head.

"You're a comical one today, aren't you." Maleficent smirked a bit. She noticed the few soldiers that were left started to run towards her with swords.

Even though she didn't have her staff, there were still some powers she could do, albeit very limited. She used her push spell on the approaching soldiers and knocked them square on their butts.

She looked up at Diaval and asked, "We must find Aurora, can you see where she is?"

Diaval looked up and around the room, he couldn't see anything. He shook his head, 'No'.

"We can't leave without her." Maleficent said anxiously.

All of a sudden Diaval let out a large roar as he felt a heavy prick on his hind quarters. Then there was another. He turned back to look out the upper window and he could see Stefan's soldiers coming towards the grand hall. He got up and moved away from the opening. Just then more of Stefan's soldiers rushed in throwing spears at Diaval. Diaval, in turn, began to breathe fire. From behind, there was apparently one or more doorways that Diaval missed and more soldiers came from back there. This group of soldiers had large spears with chains attached and they began to start to throw them over Diaval. Some of the soldiers were headed towards Maleficent.

Maleficent knew that they were going to attempt to tie Diaval up. She raise her hands to prepare to turn push the soldiers moving on Diaval when she heard a crack. She turned to find the end of an iron clad whip coming her way. She dodged a bit and the whip missed, but grabbed a hold of her robes. On the other end of the whip was none other than King Stefan. He pulled on the whip and tore the robes right off her back.

Malficent saw that Stefan's eyes flew open wide when he got a good look at what she was wearing under her robes. However, she tried once again to raise her hand to dispatch the soldiers on Diaval, However, being closer now, with another crack of the whip, this time Stefan connected.

The whip wrapped around her hands effectively tying them together. She couldn't make the necessary hand motions to work any magic at all.

"Ahhhhh!" Maleficent cried out as she could feel the iron searing into her hands.

Diaval found too that he couldn't do anything as Stefan purposely made sure he was standing inline with his mistress. Breathing fire was not an option.

Stefan walked over to Maleficent reeling in the whip in as if he caught some prize fish. He looked her up and down gawking at her outfit. He had a huge smile on his face. She tried to pull away, but the whip had small iron thorns all around it and pulling just dug the thorns deeper into her skin. The thorns didn't bother Stefan as he was wearing chain mail gloves.

"Wonderful Weapon, huh?" Stefan nodded to his whip. "Didn't take me long to learn how to use it".

Maleficent yelled out, "Where's Aurora?"

"You are not in any position to ask questions", Stefan snapped. He was now face to face with his former lover and he grabbed her hands which were still tied up.

"Let go of me!" Maleficent yelled as she pulled against him.

Diaval let out a deafening roar. Maleficent winced in pain as she couldn't cover her ears, but she could tell that Diaval was very angry.

The roar startled King Stefan and he started to back away with Maleficent towards the doorway that lead out to the terrace.

Maleficent looked back as long as she could and she watched as the soldiers tossed more spears with chains up from behind him. He started to breath fire in front to dispatch the soldiers that were in range there, but it wasn't long before his wings were tied up in chains. She could tell Diaval was distressed and lowered his snout as Stefan pulled her out the doorway.

Maleficent feared this might be the last time she laid eyes on her confidant, her long time friend.

"No!" She said.

"Favorite pet, huh?" Stefan said. "Since when did you get a dragon? They are rare."

Maleficent didn't answer, but she began to pull with all her might to get back to the great hall. The thorns dug further into her hand which were throbbing with pain, but she didn't care as she wanted to get back to Diaval. Stefan was amazed at Maleficent's strength as she began to pull him back towards the great hall. When Stefan was close to her, he swung his leg around and kicked Malficent in the shin.

"Ahhhh!" She cried out in pain.

Inside the great hall, Maleficent could hear Diaval let out an angry roar and through the doorway she could see nothing but soldiers, chains and fire flying around. While she was concerned for Diaval, it appeared the soldiers were fighting a loosing battle against him. She knew it would only be a matter of time before he would come to her aid, she knew he would do anything to keep her safe. But hopefully it would be before Stefan had his way with her.

Once again, Stefan gained the upper hand in their brief tug of war. He pulled Maleficent to a side wall, there was a support beam overhead, he then threw his whip over the beam pulling Maleficent's arms straight up. The thorns really dug into her hands and they felt like she stuck her hands into an open flame. She was breathing heavy, visibly in distress.

As he was tying the whip down, Maleficent noticed that Stefan continually ran his eyes up and down her body, he particularly concentrated on the open cutouts on her sides which expanded and contracted as she breathed.

She just kept looking over to the grand hall a growing concern for Diaval mounted, but she could see he continued putting up a fight, the entire hall was aglow from his flames. But still she wanted to get back to him.

Stefan walked over to her and looked straight down where her outfit pulled down a bit and a bit of her cleavage showd. His stare disgusted her, she knew he was checking her out.

"You're still pretty after all these years. How? You used your magic to stay young?"

Maleficent answered, "Can't say the same for you, Stefan. Years haven't been that kind on you, have they?"

Stefan gritted his teeth at her remark. "I really ought to cut that nasty tongue of yours out", Stefan sneered as he reached for his iron knife.

Maleficent thought to herself. Oh, no this is it. He's going to kill me. Her breathing intensified.

Instead Stefan ran the knife along the outline of the cutouts of her abdomen. The knife searing into her skin. Maleficent made a motion to try to kick Stefan away, but missed."

"Fiesty now, aren't we." Stefan said in a coyish manner. "When did you make such an interesting outfit? I never seen you make something like this before."

"I didn't make it, you're daughter made it for me."

Stefan's eyebrow's raised, "Aurora made it? Hmmm, she's good. I should have her head up the seamstress', but why she is wasting her talents on you is beyond me."

"He brought the knife close to her face."

"I wonder what I should do first." he said as he lowered the knife to between her legs.

As the knife drew nearer, Maleficent tried to back away. A frightened look came over her face.

"Oh, I like seeing you scared. Just like how you like making me beg."

Stefan started to push the knife between her legs. She started to feel the pain of the iron against her body as the knife began to tear a bit of the fabric and scrape along her skin.

All of a sudden there was a crash as Diaval broke the large stained glass window and his eyes met his mistress.

She mouthed the words so he could read her lips, 'Diaval, help me.' "

With another roar, Diaval slammed his body into the wall making a deep thud.

Stefan looked up as the vibration rocked the entire castle. But he felt confident that Diaval would remain trapped as the walls of the castle were very thick and strong. A second, harder slam into the wall rocked the castle even more and this time small cracks started to appear in the wall.

Stefan looked stunned not thinking Diaval was strong enough to break through the wall, but with another powerful slam, the cracks in the wall enlarged. Diaval let out a deafening roar and gritted his teeth as he slammed into the wall even harder. The bricks pushed out and the wall started to crumble where the window was. Bricks began to fall through the roof of vestibule. Stefan then brought the knife close to Maleficent's throat.

"Call him off, now! Or I will kill you."

"Stefan, since you are going to do that anyway, why should I bother?" Maleficent asked nonchalantly. "Oh, and should you kill me, he will not hesitate to turn you and everyone here into a charcoal briquette. He will make your death as painful as possible."

"Point made", Stefan said as he walked behind Maleficent and held the knife close to her throat, waiting for Diaval to emerge.

"Must save Maleficent! Must save my mistress" Diaval kept thinking. He became an unstoppable force. Now that his mistress' life was being threatened he didn't hold back. Up to now he was lienient and didn't kill any of the soldiers, but if they were to get in his way now, they would be in serious trouble. He pulled on the chains with such a force, the soldiers flew across the hall. He was determined to get free to save his mistress. But right now the thing that stood in his way was the wall. As much as it hurt his side to keep slamming into it, there was nothing that was going to prevent him from getting to Maleficent. That wall was coming down!

With two more heavy slams, the wall finally came down smashing the vestibule below.

Unfortunately the excessive vibration also weakened the main tower which was right next to the main hall and it began to lean right smack dab in the direction where Maleficent and Stefan were.

Diaval emerged from the great hall still having a couple chains around him, dragging soldiers that were foolish enough to hang on.

The lower bricks of the tower pushed out and away. The tower began to fall and King Stefan let go of Maleficent and ran off. That was the good news, but the bad news was the tower was still falling towards his mistress. Diaval couldn't allow his mistress to be crushed by the falling tower, so he put himself in harms way and slammed into the tower as it came down to push it out of the way. The tower was very heavy and it didn't move as far as Diaval anticipated, but it was enough. It just missed Maleficent, but ended up taking out the barrier wall to the right of her.

The pile of rubble that resulted from the collapse separated King Stefan from Maleficent.

When the smoke cleared, Diaval walked over to his mistress.

"Thank You, Diaval." she said with gratitude. "Now can you get me down from here?"

Diaval nodded 'yes.' He grabbed the beam where King Stefan tied his whip too and snapped it with his claw. He pulled the beam away and down. With the pressure released, Maleficent collapsed to the ground.

Diaval let out a deep moan, there was a look of hurt on his face. He reached his claw down and rubbed her on the arm. He could tell she was in pain. He tried to help unwind the thorn whip but his claws were too big.

"I'm Ok." Maleficent reasured him. "Find and detain Stefan. I will try and get myself out of this."

It didn't take Diaval long to find Stefan's only exit cut off by a pile of rubble. Stefan tried to run from Diaval, but couldn't. He was completely blocked off on both sides with his only way out being blocked by a fire breathing dragon. Diaval did what he did before and boxed Stefan in with his fireballs. Once Stefan was boxed in a corner, Diaval lowered his head and stared Stefan right in the eye with a mad menacing look. Totally disguested with the evil human before him, he breathed fire through his nostrils which formed a wall of fire on each side of Stefan. Stefan raised his hands in an attempt to block the heat. He could feel the heat begin to sear his hands. When Diaval stopped he could see complete utter fear enveloping Stefan's face.

"Good, you're scared you son of a bitch." he thought. He reached his front claw out and pinned Stefan to the wall.

While it would have made Diaval feel good to end everything right then and there and roast Stefan, he knew this was not his place and not his right. He wanted to see his mistress finally get her revenge. He looked over his shoulder as he saw his mistress finally wind free of her bonds and then she approached them.

A group of soldiers came up and over the pile of rubble where the vestibule stood. Maleficent just raised her hand and pushed them against the pile, knocking them unconscious.

She cast a small healing spell on her own hands. She looked up at Diaval and said, "Once again, Thank You Diaval, I just can't seem to thank you enough. You have been a tremendous help and yes you are correct we _do_ work good together."

Diaval let out a sweet sigh and smiled at his mistress.

As she moved closer, he then noticed the burn marks on her arms and on her neck from the net. A new feeling of rage began to swell in Diaval, and he turned to Stefan and let out and roared into his face very loudly. Maleficent had to cover her ears. When his roar subsided, his mistress reached over to his claw and gently rubbed her hand on it.

"Don't worry, my pet, you can calm down now, I will be fine."

"Hmmmph" Diaval snorted. He did calm down knowing that Maleficent was now safe and he was standing by her side anyway. A good feeling came over him after what she said about them working together.

"Pet? Since when do you have a dragon?" Stefan asked again. Again, Maleficent didn't answer.

"Surprised Stefan? You should know by now not to underestimate me."

Then he made the connection. "It's that bird! I always remembered seeing that bird around", Stefan said. "You are a witch and that bird is your familiar."

"Took you 17 years to figure that one out, huh?" Maleficent mocked now that her secret was now out. She shook her head, "You are slow. But then again you were never a bright one Stefan."

This comment angered Stefan and he tried to get free of Diavals grasp by ducking under one of his talons, but Diaval just pushed him further into the wall, he had an angry look on his face. Stefan stopped struggling as any further and the dragon would squeeze the air out of his lungs.

"You wouldn't be so big for your britches if it wasn't for your pet beast, here."

"Oh, Stefan, you never learn when you are out matched. You are human and I am a faerie. I certainly can take you on if it were mono a mono. But you have your men and I have a good friend that is a dragon."

He bowed his head toward his mistress as she walked towards Stefan. It was then he noticed a long sword on the ground that one of the guards dropped earlier. This sword was different from the others...the metal it was made of was not iron, but a reddish brown metal. With his free front claw, he carefully pushed the sword towards his mistress and nodded. He let out a small grunt and nodded towards Stefan.

As Maleficent watched Diaval's gesture. She placed her hand over her heart. "Diaval, I am touched! Always the gentleman."

Diaval couldn't help but notice some tremendous changes in his mistress since she awakened Aurora. She appeared extremely nice and polite to him. She many times said 'please' and 'thank you' and she called him 'friend' often. When their eyes connected, there was something different about the way she looked at him. Despite their current situation, Diaval started to become lost in his Mistress' beautiful green eyes. Even as a dragon a tingling sensation coursed through his body.

Stefan noticed how Maleficent's and Diavals eyes connected and how she smiled at him. "Gentleman?" Stefan questioned.

He couldn't help but notice the attachment the dragon had to Maleficent. He was very protective and had a very caring look, almost as if the dragon had feelings for her.

"Are you two..." Stefan contined pointing his finger back and forth. "Oh no, you got to be kidding me! Are you in love with the dragon?"

At first she didn't answer him and she walked over and looked the sword over carefully. The metal looked different. She tapped the sword with her hand and much to her amazement it didn't burn her hand. She picked up the sword looking it over in amazement. Stefan too was surprised that she was able to pick the sword up. But the sword was not made of iron, nor steel. It was bronze, which was a copper based metal.

"So, this is a metal I _can_ touch." She thought to herself.

She walked over to Stefan, resting the sword on her shoulder.

"That's none of your business, Stefan, and what of it? This dragon has more heart and soul than you will ever have. Not that you are going to be around for much longer anyway."

Diaval's eyes widened at his mistress's remarks.

"What?!" Stefan exclaimed.

"So...now it looks like the tables have turned, Stefan." Maleficent said.

"You're not going to kill me." Stefan said confidently

"Oh? Why not? It is has been something I longed to do since the day you stole my wings."

Just then an unsure look fell upon Stefan's face and then he began to choose his words more carefully.

"Look, I saved you. If I didn't do what I did, another soldier would have killed you. So, I saved you."

She lifted the sword off her shoulder and raised its to his chin.

"Saved me? Saved me, you say?" She glared at him. "Have you any idea of what pain and suffering you caused me? I didn't show anything but love for you, but then you turned your back on me and left me bleeding on the ground...bleeding from both my back and my heart. You knew I loved to fly and you took my wings away from me. You left me incomplete without my freedom and forced to walk the ground like you. I would have been better off dead. You _should_ have killed me."

A few more soldiers that weren't cut off by the fallen tower or sealed off doors had made their way on to the terrace. They were lead by Joseph. They managed to catch the last part of what Maleficent said, and they looked dumbfounded that she said the King and her were once lovers. They dared not move closer as Diaval glared at them and breathed a puff of smoke from his nostrils. They got the message and stopped.

"But I didn't kill you and that is why you will not kill me." Stefan reasoned.

She began to push the sword up under his chin more. "Don't you be so sure."

Diaval began to egg her on nodding his head and grunting.

She glanced back at him and smiled. She grabbed the sword with both hands and swung back looking straight at his neck.

Complete horror enveloped Stefan's face as he knew this was it he truly did underestimate her...she was going to behead him. He closed his eyes and was prepared to met his fate.

She swung the sword around and with a clang it came to a stop against the wall within three inches from his neck.

Stefan was surprised to find himself still alive. Maleficent looked down drawing his attention to a large area of Stefan's pants began to get wet. She was content in embarrassing Stefan in front of his men. She threw the sword aside.

"It's over Stefan."

Diaval looked in amazement that she did not kill Stefan.

"See, I knew you couldn't do it. You still love me, don't you. But I don't love you. I never did."

"Oh, come off it, Stefan, you were always such a poor liar and a coward. The only reason why I would save your sorry carcass is because of Aurora."

"What should that have to do with anything?"

"Because she's coming with me, Stefan, and I don't want her to go through life knowing I killed you."

"Do you think you can take my daughter away? Who do you think you are?"

"She's old enough to make her own decisions, Stefan. If she wants to come with me then I am taking her."

"No, she is a princess and heir to the throne."

"What throne, Stefan, you ruined this place."

Just then Aurora came back running out one of the doors towards. "Faerie Godmother, Faerie Godmother...Let's go, there are more soldiers coming behind me, but I got away.

Aurora made her way to Diaval.

"Aurora, no! Don't do this, you are making a laughing stock of me, your true father. How can you take sides against your flesh and blood. What enchantment did this beast put on you."

"Sorry daddy, but a true father and gentleman wouldn't beat or harm the women in their lives. You have hurt me, you have hurt mother...possibly even killed her, and the worst thing imaginable you have done to this woman here. Maleficent loved you father, you could have had a wonderful life with her ruling over the moors which is a wonderful place I have grown to love. I want to be there. I am sorry, but she has been there in my life always. I always remembered her shadow growing up. This woman has proven to be a loving mother and friend to me. I can't imaging going on in my life without her. But you would never see things that way because all you are are hell bent on trying to torture her and kill her. So I am sorry, but I am going to live with her."

Tears welled up in Maleficent's eyes as she tried to choke back her tears at what Aurora just said.

"There you go Stefan you heard your own daughters words." her voice cracked with emotion. I am taking her with me."

"But she cursed you! Are you forgetting that?"

Aurora didn't answer. Diaval crouched down, and Aurora climbed on Diaval's back first .

As Maleficent turned to walk away and climb on board, Diaval made a serious mistake. As he was ensuring that Aurora climbed on his back safely, he loosened his grip on Stefan. Stefan took the opportunity and pushed his claw out of the way. In one swoop Stefan ran over, picked up the bronze sword and was ready to thrust it straight into Maleficent's back.

"Godmother! LOOK OUT!" Aurora cried.

But no sooner had Maleficent turned around, when a huge claw swooped past her and smacked into King Stefan. The force sent him flying across the terrace and he slammed into the ground. The force wasn't severe enough to knock him on unconscious, but when he got up and walked he had a slight limp...but he was heading straight for Maleficent again.

Maleficent looked down to the ground and on a fallen soldier there was a leather glove that had spikes on the knuckles...they were the same color spikes as the sword. She reached down and took the glove off and put the glove on her right hand. The glove was a near perfect fit despite some play in the fingers.

"I am warning you, Stefan, don't come near me."

Stefan just laughed as he wondered why she donned the glove.

"What are you going to do, you wingless, horned monster? Take me on hand to hand?"

She nodded, yes. "No magic, No dragon. No swords."

Stefan was in disbelief at what he was hearing. "And you call me slow and stupid? When I am done with you, I am going to kill your dragon, and come and take your land and take my daughter back."

"Over my dead body!" Maleficent shouted. Hate and anger began to swell inside. She found herself being over come with anger she began to clench her hands into fists. A familiar feeling of rage began to build up inside of her. The veins on her forearms bulged out noticably.

"Well, then that is the idea." Stefan said as he continued to confidentally walk over to Maleficent clenching his fists.

She poised herself in a battle blocking stance. Her left arm raised to block and her right hand was clenched in a fist behind her. Her breathing deepened and her nostrils flared. She dipped her head down and her eyes narrowed. Diaval admired her look as he knew what Stefan was up against. She looked rather good in that stance. Diaval knew all too well that Stefan had no idea what he was getting himself into.

Maleficent glanced a look over to Aurora the look in her eyes was asking Aurora that she wanted to end this.

Aurora nodded, 'yes'.

Maleficent looked forward again and crouched a bit lower into her stance.

Diaval raised his wing around Aurora so she wouldn't see, but the princess already had her eyes closed and covered her ears anyway.

When Stefan was close enough he threw the first punch directly towards Maleficent's chest. She managed to dodge his blow, but barely as his fist nicked her right breast.

Stefan was surprised at how fast she was able to move. The next thing he knew, Maleficent grabbed his chest plate with her left hand and despite the burning sensation from the iron plate she just grabbed, she slammed him into part of the fallen tower. D

"I have HAD Enough...

Maleficent shouted as she pulled back back her right arm and thrust with all her might nearly burying her hand into Stefan's face, smashing his nose.

Stefan was stunned. She drew her arm back again.

"...of You!"

She yelled out and hit the very same spot even harder this time. She could hear the bones splintering under her fist. This time blood shot out from what was left of his nose and the tear ducts of his eyes.

Maleficent let go of King Stefan and he slumped to the ground in a sitting position. Diaval grinned ear to ear. He was finally happy to see his Mistress get his revenge.

"I can't see" exlaimed King Stefan.

"Fitting...You never could see." Maleficent snapped as she walked over to Diaval.

Blood began to pour from where his nose was. He began to cough and hack. He reached to his face to find his nose was practically gone.

"What did you do to me you bitch!"

"Take a wild guess. I am through with you," she replied in a low evil sounding voice.

As blood continued to pour from his face, his body finally fell over. There were some aweful gurgling sounds he made and then everything was quiet. His chest rose and fell rapidly several times and then stopped. Whatever was left of Stefan's soldiers just looked on in shock dumbfounded that a woman was able to kill their king with two well placed punches. Some did come to and try to retaliate, but there were too few of them and Diaval made it clear no one was to approach him.

As Maleficent climbed onto Diaval she removed one of Aurora's hands from her ears.

"It's over Beastie, it's done, but don't look until we are in the air."

"Yes, Faerie Godmother" Aurora's voice quavered as she was crying.

"Hold on to me now"

"Yes, I will."

Diaval spread his feathered wings and gently pumped them to get lift. He was extra careful as to not make any sudden movements to disrupt his occupants. He flew over the broken section of wall and slowly glided towards the Moors.

"You can open your eyes now, Beastie."

Diaval glanced back as Aurora opened her eyes which still were misted over with tears. Her sad face soon brightened and a smile shown through her tears.

"Oh my goodness! This is beautiful! So this is what flying is like."

"Yes, Beastie."

It was nearly dawn and the sky was turning blue, washing the Moors with a beautiful blue glow.

"Oh, now I know what you are missing Godmother, this is too beautiful for words to describe."

"Beastie, I just want let you know that in the end, I didn't want to kill your father. He left me no choice and he wouldn't have left us alone had he continued to live."

"I know, Godmother, seeing how beautiful it is to fly and how my father took this away from you, I have already forgiven you. "

Auroras word's caused Maleficent's eyes to mist over and her voice cracked when she called out to Diaval.

"Diaval?"

He grunted in acknowledgement.

"Circle once around the Moors so Aurora can see it all and then land in the clearing."

Diaval nodded and then he smoothly banked into his turn as not to disrupt his passengers.

"Hold on to me Beastie, tightly"

"I will."

Maleficent could feel her grip tighten around her waist. She in turn held tighter on to Diaval's neck with her arms and legs. She buried her face into Diaval's neck. She let the tears fall from her eyes knowing that it was over. After 17 years, justice was finally served. The curse was broken and she was free to live her life with the people she cared about, in the place she cared about...her beloved Moors.

"Godmother, this is better than I could have ever possibly imagined." She looked out to Diaval's powerful feathered wings as they pumped to gain more lift. "...I feel I can stay up here forever."

"I know, Beastie, I felt the same way and I _did _stay up here until my wings were too tired to carry me anymore. It's wonderful to fly. Even though I have lost my wings, I do have Diaval to thank for he truly did become my wings and now he is your wings too."


	14. Chapter 14: Two Become One

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 14 Two Become One

The next few days on the Moors have been very busy as both Maleficent and Diaval were working together to enlarge Maleficent's home in the Rowan Tree to make a bedroom addition for Aurora. Maleficent also built a better ladder system that connected the bedrooms together and also incorporated the old nest in the canopy better.

In between making a home for themselves and Aurora moving in, the three of them took time out for flying as Robin and the other fae folk had built a new two seat harness in which Aurora could ride with Maleficent together. Since the war between the kingdoms was over with the death of King Stefan, Maleficent had no fear of flying above the Moors with Diaval and spent most of her spare time in the air with him. But, it was Aurora, of whom flying was new to, who wanted to fly often. Many times they even flew together with him. Maleficent had fun pointing out more of her homeland to Aurora from above. She would describe how she flew through parts of the moors when she had her wings. She showed her things that were not able to be seen from the ground.

"Diaval, can we go again this afternoon?"

"Aurora, you _do_ have to give me a break, my shoulder blades are hurting something awful from all the flying we been doing the past days." Diaval complained.

"Maybe I can rub your back and that would make you feel better?"

Aurora then heard from inside the house. "That's Ok Aurora, Diaval has done very well, especially with our confrontation with Stefan. I think it is time I gave him a proper back rub. It's the least I could do for him." Maleficent said.

Diaval had an impressed look on his face and he whispered to Aurora. "The master gives the servant a back rub? That's a first."

"I can hear you." Maleficent called out.

"Ooops!" Aurora giggled.

The following day Diaval was flying overhead with both Maleficent and Aurora and they decided to get a little closer to the castle.

It was still a disaster. Not much had been cleaned up since their confrontation just a couple nights before. But something interesting caught Maleficent's eye. It looked like some of the workers and soldiers were pulling the iron plates off the outside walls. Some even waved to them noticing Aurora was riding the dragon.

Just then in the field just before the drawbridge, three soldiers were trying to flag Diaval down. It appeared they were not wearing armor, nor did they have swords or any other visible weapons.

"Diaval, take us down a bit lower"

Diaval grunted and acknowledged.

Upon circling the soldiers, Aurora could recognize the one in the middle was Joseph from the night before.

"Oh! Godmother, that is Sir Joseph. Let's set down to see what they want."

"Well, I see no iron and no weapons. I guess it is Ok." Maleficent said.

"Diaval, take us down but keep your distance." Maleficent instructed.

Diaval made a majestic, but soft landing several yards in front of the soldiers.

"Diaval...keep your head above us. If they try anything funny, you know what to do." Maleficent said.

Diaval nodded in acknowledgment and he blew a smoke ring from his mouth.

Maleficent laughed, "Yeah, you got the idea."

Aurora and Maleficent dismounted and stood directly under Diaval's head. The soldiers approached carefully. The two behind Joseph actually appeared to be terrified of Maleficent. The one in the middle and slightly up front she recognized herself as Sir Joseph.

When they were close enough in loud speaking range Maleficent shouted, "Stop right there, state your business...and make it fast." She said in her usual stern voice.

All three men got down on one knee and bowed in front of Maleficent and Aurora.

"Your Excellency Madam Maleficent, I am Sir Joseph." he introduced himself bowing. Maleficent raised an eyebrow at his show of respect. Hmmmm, he appears to have manners after all she thought.

"You might recognize me from a few nights ago." he continued.

"I do."

"It may come as no surprise that we are now a kingdom without a ruler. I have to admite our rule under King Stefan was not a pleasant one and in later years with his going mad the kingdom has fallen under hard times. King Stefan has depleted all of our tradeable goods to buy iron to fortify the castle. As of now we have no direction. In your company you have the true heir to this kingdom, Princess Aurora. We know that you are the faerie godmother to Princess Aurora and we, as a kingdom, would like to come to terms to forge a peace between us and yourself."

Maleficent's heart nearly beat out of her chest when she heard this last sentence. This was something her parents had always dreamed of and now it looks like it might become a reality.

"I am interested. But it is Aurora's decision, not mine alone."

All eyes looked to Aurora

"Yes, godmother, I do want peace between our worlds." Aurora said.

"It is then said and done. However, there are some terms we must go over and I would like a formal treaty signed." Maleficent said firmly.

"Can we meet at the castle tonight, your excellency?"

"We may."

"Splendid, I will have the board draw up the particulars then." Sir Joseph said.

"As I have matters to attend to myself." Maleficent added.

"Farewell, Madam Maleficent and Princess Aurora." Sir Joseph bowed with his men and then they turned to leave. When they were out of ear shot. Aurora turned to Maleficent.

"Oh, this is sooooo great! This is what you always wanted Godmother, finally an official peace between our kingdoms!"

Maleficent's face became softer and there was a glisten in her eyes, "Yes, Beastie, it is wonderful. I did something that many of my kind tried to do for years: Finally forge a peace between the humans and the fae folk. I believe this time I did something right."

"Oh Godmother, don't put yourself down. We all make mistakes in life, you realized yours and made such a wonderful turn around in your life. I love the 'new' you."

"Thank You, Beastie. I am still trying to come to grips with the 'new' me. It's just all these emotions I have trouble sorting out."

"Understood. But don't worry, Diaval and I will be here for you."

Maleficent smiled brightly, "I know you will." she said and then she looked up at Diaval who was also smiling.

That evening Maleficent met with Sir Joseph and his head dignitaries at the castle. The peace treaty was drawn and signed in the ballroom which was adjacent to the grand hall. Unlike the grand hall, the ballroom remained intact from the skirmish. During the treaty as new rules were being laid down, Maleficent was given a very ornate chair and was sitting at the head of the table. She clearly was in control of the entire situation. To her right was Sir Joseph and to her left was Princess Aurora. Prince Philip was also present and he sat further down the table.

The new kindom as a result of the treaty was to be known as the Hamlet of Malora which would be under the rule of Queen Aurora following her coronation day. Since Aurora was not yet of age, Maleficent would also be in full power as Custodian Queen. Maleficent didn't like the title and preferred to be addressed as 'Madam' or 'My Lady.' This was to avoid confusion in regards to Aurora being Queen. Over the moors, Maleficent would still maintain control as Queen along with Aurora. Once Aurora reached 21, Maleficent would step down to the role of Royal Vazier and remain an advisor to Aurora for both kingdoms.

Also following the treaty Maleficent offered the services of the Fae folk to assist in rebuilding the castle and removing it's hideous iron fittings. The iron was to be sold off and the money used to rebuild the kingdom's economy.

Given the state of the castle, the coronation was going to take place in the Moors as per Princess Aurora's request. Only a handful of dignitaries from Stefan's old kingdom would be present with Sir Joseph elected as the executor.

After the treaty was signed the group broke up for dinner. Of those representing the Fae Folk, in addition to Maleficent, Princess Aurora, and Diaval, were Robin, Knotgrass, Flittle, and Thistletwit. The latter three came and were going to head up the group that was in charge of restoring the castle to its former glory and be worthy of the the new Queen To Be. They went off to discuss rebuilding plans with the town's builders.

Robin shook his fist in excitement. "Oh, Maleficent, my lovely dear Maleficent you have done it! This is what your parents wanted for so long. What they paid the price with their lives for."

"Yes, Robin, it is a very exciting time. I _did_ do it. Finally peace." Maleficent said softly as she smiled at him.

Diaval was over by one wall having a discussion with Aurora and Prince Philip.

Maleficent noticed that Aurora seemed to be quite smitten with Prince Philip and the two were already holding hands when they were talking to Diaval.

Maleficent and Robin looked on as Prince Philip began showing off in front of Aurora to impress her with his moves of galantry.

"Looks like those two are going to hook up after all." Robin said.

"Yes, it appears that way." Maleficent said.

"You know, you and Diaval would look great together." Robin said putting her on the spot.

"Perhaps, but I am too broken of a woman for a gentleman...a pretty bird like him to consider. He is a bird and that is whom he will eventually pick for a mate."

Robin started to get a bit of disgusted look on his face. "You know...really you are kind of a bird too. Even though you don't have wings anymore and when you wanted his wings...he sure made you fly."

There was a brief silence and Maleficent hung her head low. "Yes, I know. Robin, I..."

Just then there was a loud crash and everyone looked up. Apprently in his showing off on a nearby bench, Prince Philip fell into one of the curtains that adorned the ballroom. The curtain fell on top of him. But what was behind the curtain is what caught Maleficent's attention.

Robin scrunched his face and said, "Is that a..."

"Pipe organ." Maleficent finished Robin's sentence and then she got stood up with an astonished look on her face.

Sir Joseph's conversation was interrupted when he saw Maleficent stand up.

"Your Excellency, is everything fine?" he asked following her eyes over to the partially exposed instrument.

Maleficent could even see Diaval and Aurora back up to get a good look at the organ. Prince Philip was still stuck under the curtain that had fallen on top of him.

"Yes, I am fine...how big is that organ."

"Well there are pipes all around the room behind those red curtains."

"Show me"

Sir Joseph had an odd look on his face as to why Maleficent would be interested in the old organ. But, it was her request and he complied.

"Absolutely, your excellency." Sir Joseph responded.

He looked to one of the servants that lined the wall and motioned for her to open the red curtains. She and two others joined in and opened all the curtains that surrounded the room. Behind each set of curtains was a chamber of ornate golden pipes. The fifth set at the far end of the ball room revealed the organ's console.

"Does it work?" Maleficent asked.

"Sadly, No." Sir Joseph said. "It fell into disrepair during King Henry's reign. King Stefan wasn't interested in holding large balls or gatherings in here and soon after his coronation, the instrument stopped working altogether. But it sounded beautiful when it did work many moons ago.

"Bummer", Robin said with a frown on his face.

"Can you play, your excellency?" Sir Joseph asked with a doubtful look on his face.

"As a matter of fact, I can." She answered.

He was a bit stunned by her answer and he dared to ask the next question.

"Do you have a pipe organ in your moorlands?"

"No, but there was one I used to play as a child over at Dragon Claw castle. It too stopped working at around the time I met Stefan."

"Do you want us to fix it for you when we renovate the castle."

"Yes, Sir Joseph, I would like that very much."

"I am hoping that once it is fixed, your excellency will honor us with a performance."

"Of course. Perhaps during the coronation ball, if it is ready by then."

Just then another soldier came up to Sir Joseph and whispered into his ear.

"Oh! Almost forgot." Sir Joseph look towards the door and waved for one of the servants standing there to come in.

The servant was carrying something long wrapped in a white cloth. She bowed down in front of Maleficent and held the item up.

"Your excellency, I believe this belongs to you." Sir Joseph said pointing towards the cloth wrapped item.

Maleficent picked up the item and knew right away what it was. Unwrapping the cloth revealed her staff.

"Why, thank you Sir Joseph for returning my staff. I am rather fond of this staff and missed it so."

He bowed down to Malficent putting his fist across his heart, "It is a pleasure Madam Maleficent."

"Sir Joseph?" Maleficent asked. "You are quite different from the other soldiers. You seem to be quite a gentleman. You also don't seem to cower or slink away in my presence as most have done in my presence."

"Well, the truth is I was never in favor of either King Henry or King Stefan's decision to have you...well...executed." He barely could say the word. "During that first battle when you landed with those magnificent wings, I knew then I couldn't bring harm to you. I saw you as someone special and someone we could learn from. I decided then and there that ending your life and taking over the moors was wrong. I was to be the next in line for the throne had I carried out King Henry's order to have you terminated. But after seeing you, I couldn't bring myself to it. Then and now, I find you...well, majestic and beautiful. I feel honored to have such a unique individual as yourself among us. It does seem fitting for you to sit at the head of this table. You naturally seem like a leader."

"Why, thank you Sir Joseph and actually I feel honored as well. I see as with Princess Aurora, there does appear to be good in other humans as well."

"Yes, your excellency, there are many of us that feel the same way I do."

"That is interesting to know." Maleficent said as she got up. "Excuse me, Sir Joseph."

"Yes, your excellency."

Maleficent walked over to the back of the ballroom and examined the console of the pipe organ. Diaval shortly joined her after he assisted Aurora in freeing Prince Philip.

"Rather interesting contraption, huh?"

"It's an instrument that makes music, Diaval."

"Yes, in the far town but one they have something similar in their church, although not as grand as this one."

Maleficent sat down on the organ's bench and she examined the keys and all the buttons. The organ had three keyboards and a myriad of buttons laid out in an arc above the keys. The pedels below fanned out from under the bench to the entire width of the console. She placed her fingers on the keys as if fingering out chords to play. Diaval noticed how elegant her long fingers were resting on the keys.

"It is much larger than the one I played at Dragon's Claw," She said softly.

"You can play one of these?" Diaval asked surprisingly as he sat down next to her facing the other way, but leaned back against the console to speak with her.

"Yes."

"How come you never mentioned playing an organ at Dragon's Claw before."

"The organ fell out of service many years ago and I really didn't know how to fix it. Same is true here, as Sir Joseph informed me this one isn't working either. I told him to get it operational again."

"Hmmm, interesting. When it is fixed I would like to hear you play it."

Maleficent smiled as she said, "That is what Sir Joseph said as well."

There were more discussions that ran through the night. Much had to be done before Aurora's coronation which was to be within the week.

The days came and went and it was the day of Aurora's coronation. Diaval and Robin returned from the Faerie Mound for their days work in preparation for the coronation ceremeny was done. They decided to return to the Rowan Tree to see what the ladies were up to.

They entered the house and the two were in the back putting the finishing touches on the clothing they were going to wear that day.

"Isn't this wonderful, guys? Godmother made my dress with real flowers!"

Aurora's dress did indeed have real flowers that adored the skirt part of her dress. The dress was a butterscotch color and had an ornate flower pattern in which the real flowers enhanced. It had long sleeves and shallow dip in the neckline, but it ran wide, nearly off the shoulder. The neckline and wrists were lined with an off white lace also with a flower pattern.

"Wow!" Diaval exclaimed. "That really is a nice color to go with your golden hair."

"Uh, huh. Godmother said the same thing." Aurora said as she reached behind her and hung another dress up on a hook that was on the wall. "And this is Godmother's dress. She mostly made this one too, but I put the gold trimming on it and I also helped with the sleeves."

Maleficent's coronation dress was predominately black but had gold trim and almost a gold like glitter pattern that ran down the length. Like Aurora's dress, the neckline was shallow but near off the shoulder, slightly more so than Aurora's dress.. A lace adorned the top edge of the gown. The gown's striking feature was its alluring exaggerated split bell sleeves.

"Oh, that is just breathtaking, I can't wait to see it on you, m'lady." Robin said.

Diaval looked a bit stunned. He knew he was once again going to be in trouble. He silently mouthed to Aurora while Maleficent wasn't looking, 'You did it again!" Aurora just smiled and pointed to Maleficent giving credit where it was due.

Diaval turned to look at what Aurora was working on and it was not a dress, but something with slacks.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Why you need a new outfit too, Diaval." Maleficent stated. "Aurora took it upon herself to make your outfit while I worked on ours."

Diaval's outfit was dark pair of slacks with top that had long sleeves which were also capped. His neckline was also very wide, but it dipped down into more of a v-shape.

"Diaval, it looks like you won out, as you will have the neckline with deepest plunge." Aurora said.

Robin, giggled.

"That was Godmother's idea. I was going to give you a much more closed neckline with a large collar, but she insisted that since her and I had wide necklines that you should as well."

Diaval swung a curious eye over to his mistress and she just shrugged her shoulders. "Ok, Ok, Yes, I wanted to see you with an open neckline too." Her head dipped down as her eyes appeared to follow the plunge in the neckline on the current outfit he was wearing. She smirked a bit and made no attempt to hide it."

Diaval thought to himself. Interesting...I think she is checking me out. Naww can't be. But she wanted an open neckline on my outfit too.

"Ok, I'm done! Aurora exclaimed as she put the finishing touches on Diaval's outfit."

"Alright, Let's try them on. Aurora and I will change here, Diaval you can change in the next room."

Diaval collected his new outfit and started out the doorway into the next room and Robin sat on his shoulder. "Oh!" he nodded to Aurora, "Thank You"

"You're welcome Diaval. It was about time I made YOU something for a change."

The two headed out of the room and Diaval began to change into the new outfit.

"Diaval, you think you will be able to handle that new outfit Maleficent has?" Robin asked.

"I don't know, Robin", Diaval shook his head. "It seems almost everytime I look at her with just about anything on her body that is exposed, I get that tingling feeling there."

"You know, I believe she is going to free you today."

"Yes, I believe that as well, however, I don't want to go out there anymore as just my normal self. I have changed Robin. I feel this is my home now. I don't want to leave the Moors and I don't want to leave you Aurora, or Maleficent. All of you are my friends."

"Thank you Diaval, but tell her.", Robin urged.

"I don't know if I can." Diaval said with doubt in his voice. He was finished with putting on the new outfit he grabbed a comb that was laying on the counter and began to fix his hair.

"Hey, you actually shine up like a new coin yourself", Robin said.

"Well, the outfit surely does feel comfortable. Neckline is rather wide though."

Just then Aurora came twirling out of the back room in her beautiful butterscotch gown the flowers on the gown gave off a beautiful scent.

"Wow, you certainly are a sight!", Robin said his eyes fixed on her.

"Godmother did great for the both of us, I think I might be rubbing off on her. Wait until you see her gown. It's breathtaking."

Diaval began to clench his fingers into fists as if he was bracing for impact. He didn't know what to expect, but if Aurora had any influence on an outfit for his mistress, he knew he was going to be in trouble.

Maleficent then slowly emerged from the back room and came into the light. Of everyone in the room her eyes shot directly to Diaval and she had a lovely smile on her face. She held her hands close to the middle of her lower body and the very long sleeves from her gown split at the elbows and hung almost all the way down to the ground. Another striking feature of the gown was that it bared Maleficent's whole neckline right out to the edges of her shoulders. Diaval couldn't help but let his eyes run down her neck and follow one of her collarbones right out to her shoulder. The lace beautifully augemented her neckline. The gown ran straight down into the skirt which also was so long it just touched the ground. There was gold trimming on the edges and had a gold glitter that was speckled all over the raven colored outfit. On the top of her head, she wore a ring of black roses around her horns. A raven's skull adorned the front of the flowers and formed a 'widow's peak' on her forehead. Diaval cringed a little at her choice of head ornamentation, but the lovely gown more than made up for it.

But it was the look on her face that even got more of his attention. She came over and gave _him_ the staircase eyes. She raised one of her fingers and ran her finger along one of his collar bone scars. She raised and eyebrow and said, "You look good. You are rather handsome, my pet." She put her arm over his shoulder and towards the back of his head almost as if ready to embrace, but she patted down a tuft of his hair that was standing up. The sleeve being so large and heavy slid all the way up her arm exposing her upper arm and Diaval's eyes darted right to her arm and he started to check out the details on her arm. He could feel that uncomfortable tingling once again.

"A bit of your hair was sticking out, that's all", she said. "Shall we be off to the Faerie Mound?"

Everyone nodded and began to exit with Diaval trailing. Maleficent grabbed her staff on the way out and was in front of Diaval. He noticed the back of her dress dipped down to a small V shape just covering her wing stumps, but giving a good view of the top of her back. He thought how nice it would be to just kiss her on her back. Diaval shook his head and try to clear his mind for the task at hand.

Upon arrival Balthazar, Sir Joseph and four other dignitaries that were present during the treaty signing were already there. Prince Philip was also present and Aurora lit up with a smile from ear to ear. He right away took to her side and the two held hands.

Soon other faeries joined in along with the other moorland creatures.

Maleficent took her place on her throne holding her staff. Diaval stood to her right side, Aurora and Prince Philip stood to her right.

Once it appeared that everyone was in place, Maleficent boomed in her rich voice, "Let the Royal Coronation begin!"

There was a cheering among the crowd.

After some words were spoken between Sir Joseph and Maleficent in regards to the newly forged peace, and also that Maleficent would be acting queen and advisor to Aurora until her 21st birthday. Once all the details out of the way, it was time to present the crown to Aurora. Surprisingly Maleficent left this honor to the three pixies, Knotgrass, Flittle, and Thistletwit. They flew in each taking a corner of a triangular shaped red pillow with Auroras newly made crown sitting atop it.

Knotgrass announced, "We present this crown to Princess Aurora, of whom we sacrificed the best years of our lives..." she stopped short as she glance over to Maleficent of whom was glaring straight at her and she looked very displeased. She got up off her throne and approached Knotgrass, of whom began to tremble. She motioned for the three faeries to come to her with the crown. She took the crown from the pillow and and gently placed it on Aurora's head.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, your new queen, Queen Aurora. Honor and obey her as you do me." Maleficent shouted.

All present bowed to the new queen. Then crowd roared as Maleficent reached for her staff.

"Excuse me, there is something I have to fix." She said to Diaval.

With a wave of her staff, all of a sudden flowers of all different shapes and colors sprouted from the ground. White flowers sprouted all over what was her throne. The haze that surrounded the moors for 16 years finally lifted and everything was crystal clear. The the thorn wall began to collapse in on itself offering a view of the castle and the surroundings.

The moors was once again colorful and beautiful as it did close to 17 years ago.

Robin kept shouting and pumping his fist in the air, "Whoo Hooo, YES!"

Maleficent looked to Robin, she placed her middle fingers on her thumbs and splayed her other fingers out while raising her forearms to waist height and out from her body. A gesture he hadn't done in Robin's presence since she was 16 years old. She bowed her head down to Robin and said, "My special thanks to you, my friend for being there all my life."

"Yeah, Yeah, She's back!" Robin shouted. "That's my girl."

A large smile spread across Maleficent's face, "And you know it!"

Diaval looked at the bright smile on Maleficent's face. "Wow, you are so radiant...and you look great smiling that way."

"Why thank you Diaval, I am rather fond of your smile as well."

Diaval and Maleficent looked on as flowers and tree buds began blooming all over the moors. Then slowly the smile melted from her face and her face appeared very sad.

"What's wrong, my mistress?"

She just raised her finger to silence him and then turned to the crowd. They all quieted down.

"While I have everyone assembled here today." Maleficent's voice rang out. "I have one more thing to say and this is to my long time companion, Diaval."

Diaval felt a bit shy as he was being called out publically and he moved to Maleficent's side very slowly. She turned to him and reached down and grabbed both his hands and then spoke aloud to everyone gathered.

"You have been in my service for 17 years and you have performed everything I had asked of you outstandingly. While I have saved your life, that night at the castle you have saved mine. In my later years with you, you have given me more than I could have ever hoped for. I asked for your wings, and you literally gave them to me, allowing me to fly once more. You have been more than just a servant to me, you have been my confidant and friend."

With this last line, Diaval could see his mistress' eyes start to well up and her voice began to quaver.

"It is with much happiness I say..." she swallowed hard interruping herself. While she mentioned happiness, Diaval could see that she was anything but. She continued "...you are released from your services to me and you are free to go."

Aurora and Robin looked dumbfounded even though the rest of the fae folk there were mixed cheers with some sighs of sadness.

Diaval found he had a hard time letting go of his mistress's hands and at one point has he started to pull away, he could feel her fingers grasp his even tighter.

"My mistress..."

"You don't have to call me that anymore, Diaval. The truth is...I never liked being called that anyway."

"Yes...Maleficent."

When he spoke her name, she suddenly tried pulling away, but now found that Diaval wouldn't let go of her hands. She pulled harder and he let go. She pulled away and turned her face away from the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Diaval reached out and tried to hold Maleficent, but she pulled herself further away.

"I'm ok. Just go on. I don't like long goodbyes that linger. Find yourself a good mate, I have kept you from that for far too long." Her voice was racked with emotion.

Diaval started to sadly walked away and Maleficent partially turned around and began to raise her hand with tears in her eyes. Her hand was visibly shaking as she was ready to make the final tranformation.

Robin looked at Aurora and both said to each other at the same time, "Intervention." Robin flew over to Diaval and Aurora ran over to Maleficent.

Diaval looked to Robin and he motioned to him to go back to Maleficent. He could read Robin's lips mouthin, 'Don't do this, go back to her.'

Suddenly Diaval jumped back towards Maleficent and grabbed her hand to stop her from transforming him. There was a hush among the crowd and all went silent. Maleficent turned to him with a stunned look on her face.

"No! This is wrong, it doesn't feel right." he said in a hushed tone that only those nearby could hear. "While you have given me my freedom, what am I going to do out there? I will feel alone and will constantly be thinking of my life here. I know my life would be short out there and meaningless as only a raven. I have grown so attached to my life here in the Moors, that I no longer want to leave. Being that you said I am free then I am free to make my choice. I chose to continue to spend my life here in the Moors with you. I want to be your friend, or if you allow it, quite possibly even more. That is what feels right to me. I DO have feelings for you and it is now that you wanted to change me back for the last time where I felt a pain in my chest. That pain is telling me this is wrong and being with you is right." His eyes glistened over and he swallowed hard several times. "But I need to know that you feel the same way and that you want me to stay by your side.

Maleficent put her hand down while Diaval was still holding it, she was somewhat shocked to hear what Diaval had just spoken.

Robin look to Aurora and Aurora looked to him with astonished faces. Robin whispered to Aurora, "Am I seeing things? Is this happening? He's finally coming around?"

Aurora put her finger over her mouth and then whispered, "Shhhh, let's just watch and see. But I think so. Just look at her face."

Maleficent swallowed hard a couple of times before she spoke. She spoke very softly as only those close by could hear as well. Her voice slightly breaking up.

"Diaval, I am a proud and selfish woman. You didn't have to grab my hand as I wouldn't have changed you back." her voice quavered as she tried in vain to hold her emotions back. Then she continued, "I feel that I I don't want to let you go even though I already have." The other night Robin pointed out to me how much you given me and I thought about it for a long time. You are so different from Stefan. While Robin never liked or trusted Stefan, he always felt good about you and he is even your best friend. You have been good to me and you have always treated me well, from servant, to confidant, and now...my friend. You want to give to me, but I say I am selfish because I don't want the horse rides to stop, I don't want the flying to stop. You really have given me your wings and had helped me soar again." Maleficent swallowed hard again as she continued, "I don't want any of that to stop. But most of all, I have feelings inside for you that will not go away. And now I am not sure if I want them to go away. But I know for sure I don't want you to go away. I want you to stay...close to me. But do you want a broken faerie woman without her wings to be with you?"

Aurora, Robin and Diaval were in shock at what Maleficent was just saying. She was never this free discussing her emotions before.

Diaval looked to Robin and he pushed his hands out and mouthed the words 'Go On'. Maleficent in turn looked to Aurora of whom was smiling as always and she nodded her head.

"Maleficent, my dear, you are not selfish and you are not a broken woman." Diaval then paused, "I have always found you beautiful as you are. In fact, since I have met you, you have steadily grown more and more beautiful to my eyes. The truth is that lately I found it hard to look at you as it caused so many emotions to well up in side of me. Feelings that I cannot explain or control. But I know it only happens when I am near you.

"Oh...Goodness me." Maleficent's breathing began to deepen as she was taking in what Diaval just said. She moved she placed her hands around his waist, "Diaval, you ARE always a gentleman and that is what I ...love... the most about you." She paused, "And you are very pleasing to my eyes as well."

"So then, _now_ do you believe that true love exists?" Diaval asked in a normal voice.

"I guess...Yes, I do," she corrected herself. "Both Aurora and yourself have opened my eyes to that fact. Since you have given so much to me, I want to give my love to you."

"Then Maleficent, my dear, I offer you my love as well."

There was a din among the crowd as they were anticipating what was going to happen next. He looked to Robin and he made the motion bringing two of his fingers to his lips hinting for him to kiss Maleficent.

Diaval swallowed hard. "I would like ask for permission to kiss you."

Maleficent dipped her head down a little and caught herself swaying side to side acting a bit bashful.

"Yes, you may." she answered.

There were cheers of anticipation among those gathered. Aurora squealed with excitement and Robin shook his fist with a smile on his face.

Then the moment came but slowly.

Diaval could feel his heart racing as his eyes looked at the place he wanted his lips to meet hers. It seemed like an eternity he waited for this moment to finally happen. He didn't want to mess this up. Her lips appeared very full in comparison to his own. He started to get doubts if his own lips would satisfy her.

She moved her hands to his shoulders and he placed his hands on her waist. He could feel her breathing intensify.

Many thought's were racing through Maleficent's mind. "Oh, my goodness! After 17 years, I never thought this would happen to me again. I hope he is happy when our lips meet. But why does this have to happen here, right out in the open with everyone watching? It is making me uncomfortable. Mal, just be a strong woman, don't let it get to you. He is here too, so you can do this. This is going to be his first time, make it really good. I hope I don't falter and ruin my chance for happiness forever. Oh Mal, just get a grip and go for it!"

Maleficent curled her lips inward and passed her tongue over them in anticipation. She wanted to make her lips as moist as possible. This was something she wanted deeply since she hadn't been kissed since the night Stefan took her wings. She found her breathing difficult to control as it steadily became more rapid and intense. As she exhaled she could feel her nostrils flare. She began to alternate looking at his lips to looking at his dark eyes. She could see the soft look he had on his face, he was completely smitten with her.

Oh, that look on his face, it is making me want to swoon. She could feel her knees begin to shake. No No, don't. Not yet, you haven't even started to kiss. It is just these feelings are so strong right now. Hang in their Mal. Keep it together.

Their faces moved closer and closer and Diaval could see every single color that was in her eyes and those eyes were full of passion. She had at least five different colors in her eyes compared to his one. Oh, those eyes, so beautiful, so magnificent. More beautiful than any pair of human eyes. The look she was giving him was causing that tingling sensation again. He looked once again where he was going to place his lips. Her lips look fuller than ever being so close. Their noses touched and grazed by each other.

Diaval closed his eyes, Maleficent closed hers. Diaval continued to move closer very slowly until his lips finally reached their destination. Her lips were very moist and soft. He continued to move forward until his lips were completely on hers and it became apparent how full her lips were. He had to open his mouth slightly to get his lips fully around hers. He applied just a little inward suction. Then suddenly everything became quiet. The only thing Diaval could take in were how her lips felt against his. The feeling was wonderful.

A din could be heard in the background as everyone cheered, but Diaval could barely hear it as he was concentrating on what he was doing. The kiss started to feel good as he could feel the same pulling feeling on his lips. Her mouth partly opened and he could then feel her lips overtake his. The feeling was awesome and overwhelming, clearly nothing what he experienced before in his life. With her mouth partly opened he slowly slipped the tip of his tongue past his lips and just touched the inside edge of her lips.

Maleficent let out a small moan and moved her arms from his shoulders to around his neck. The suction against his lips increased and she opened her mouth further to wrap her lips around his. The pulling sensation on his lips was making him get excited. He didn't want to over do it and end up embarassing himself and Maleficent in front of everyone, so regretfully he began to withdraw his lips.

"Oh, my" Maleficent said giggling a little bit licking her lips.

Diaval looked on in anticipation for her reaction. So far it looked as if he did ok as she was smiling and her face was clearly turning red. Is red good? He thought to himself. Suddenly the din he blocked out came back as a roar from the crowd. There was clapping and cheering, giggling, jumping, twirling and even flying to an fro.

Diaval said to Maleficent, "My, I have a funny feeling more than just Robin and Aurora wanted to see us together."

She nodded a 'yes'.

"Yeah!" Robin exclaimed among others that were cheering.

Aurora was clapping.

Diaval asked Maleficent, "Did you like it?"

"Yes, that was very pleasing," Maleficent said her face now a red rouge color. Diaval relaxed knowing he did a good job with his first kiss. But he didn't expect her to say what she said next.

Maleficent tipped her head down and her eyes narrowed and she said in a sultry tone, "Do it again."

Diaval's eyes widened. He was very surprised as she asked for another kiss! 'Ok,' he thought, 'lets try to improve a bit on that first one.'

Once again Diaval slowly began to get close to her face and as before their lips slowly came in contact with each other. However, this time she draped her arms completely around his neck putting one hand on the back of his head and the other on his shoulder. She firmly placed her lips over his. Clearly she ended up turning the tables and was kissing him! The force of her lips on his was much greater this time and she was almost pushing him back with her lips. The feeling was very intense and he couldn't help but feel himself start to get larger between his legs. 'Oh no!' he thought to himself. Then she slipped her tougue into his mouth and right under his curling her tongue upwards.

Diaval flinched as this was something he was not expecting, but at the same time it felt inexplicably good.

Just as quickly as she had done it, she withdrew her mouth from his and place her hands back on his shoulders. She had a large grin on her face, a very seductive, almost evil look.

There was a roar coming from the crowd and no voices were louder than Aurora and Robin's.

He could hear Robin shout excitedly, "That was one HOT kiss."

"Well?" she asked in a stern voice.

"Tha...That was really great. You kiss extremely well." Diaval whispered to her.

"As do you." She whispered back.

"Yes!" Diaval thought to himself. "She liked it!"

Her eyes looked deep into his and he could feel her pull him closer.

Oh, no...she will feel it! He thought as he could feel himself graze against the inside of her leg. It was unmistakable she HAD to have felt that.

"Diaval" she whispered with a flirtatious sound in her voice, "Well Well. I think we have to take care of that, don't we."

"You...You're not upset."

"No, why would I be? I am very flattered actually."

"Really?"

"Uh huh." Maleficent Answered. "In fact I am feeling rather large tingle myself from that kiss." Maleficent said as she ran her finger along the scar that ran across his collar bone.

Diaval's eyes widened, both from what she said AND what he felt.

Aurora could tell that a noticable bulge presented itself between Diavals legs. She put her hand over her lips and then giggled a bit.

Robin turned to Aurora, "What? What's so funny, What did I miss?"

"Let's just say I think we have get these two to some place private and fast!" Aurora whispered.

"Ahhhh, should you tell them about your spot or should I tell them about mine first?" Robin asked

"Your place is so much more romantic in the daytime. I'll go first since it will be evening soon." With that Aurora approached Maleficent and whispered in her ear.

Diaval looked on and then shot a look over to Robin as he knew he was probably in on something Aurora was whispering about. Robin just hovered, gave him a blank stare and shrugged his shoulders. Diaval just sneered at him.

Maleficent came to Diaval's side and whispered, "Diaval, Aurora has seems to have informed me that something special awaits us by the small waterfall near the Rowan Tree."

"Really? That sounds interesting."

"Yes, I would like to leave at once."

Maleficent then turned to the crowd and said, "Ok, the coronation ceremony is over. We will assemble again for the coronation ball which will take place a week from now when the repairs to the castle should be completed. Thank you all for attending today."

There was applause among those gathered

Maleficent turned to Aurora and Robin, "We will meet you two back at the Rowan Tree later, and Aurora?"

"Yes, godmother"

"Congradulations."

"Thank You." Aurora said.

"Yes, we will see you MUCH later." Robin said.

Maleficent sneered and pointed her finger back and forth between them. "You two are up to something again, huh?"

Aurora and Robin just looked up in the air and all around pretending to not know a thing.

"Just as I thought." she said as her eyes further narrowed as she turned away from them.

Sir Joseph, his castle dignitaries, Prince Philip and the Fae folk all lined up to congradulate the new queen.

Maleficent began to stare at Diavals scars and found herself in a daze rubbing the large scar that ran down his chest. She began to feel a tingling sensation between her legs.

Diaval was quiet for a while as he closed his eyes and took the feeling in.

He then asked, "Maleficent?"

"Hmmm?" She was startled to.

"Yes...Oh! Diaval, sorry, I must have been daydreaming." She said. "Lets go."

"Ok," he replied.

She began to walk very fast and Diaval noticed even he was having a hard time keeping up.

"I don't think I have seen you walk this fast before."

When they were out of sight of the mound, Maleficent stopped and turned to Diaval.

"Diaval, I have a 17 year old itch that needs scratching."

"Really? Where?"

"Oh, you are so naïve." With that she grabbed his hand and placed it right on her dress between her legs.

"Oh! I see, my mistress."

"Diaval, I said you don't have to call me that anymore."

"Sorry, it is just habit."

"I am going to change you into a horse, just walking like this is uncomfortable. Into a horse."

Diaval transformed into the horse and he galantly bowed down and put his leg out for her to climb on. Her coronation dress clearly was not meant for riding and she ended up hiking it up to her thighs completely baring both of her legs and then she climbed on. Diaval found himself attracted to her legs.

"Ok, Diaval, I'm ready. Make haste to the small waterfall."

Diaval turned towards the waterfall and started off.

'Oh, this feeling is intense.' Maleficent said to herself as the tingling between her legs increased. 'I don't think I can make it.'

With that, Maleficent leaned forward and laid her head down on his neck and wrapped her arms around his neck. He whinied a bit and tried to glance back, but he kept focus and kept heading towards the waterfall.

Maleficent inched her way down Diavals body almost laying down on his back. She arched her body forward pressing herself into Diaval's back. The vibration from the movement that ran down his back nearly sent her soaring.

She let out a small moan, "Ohhhhhh."

Diavals ears perked up. "Don't mind me Diaval, just...just keep going to the waterfall and go faster!"

'Watch it Mal, don't make it so obvious', she thought to herself.

Diaval complied and as he picked up speed, the movement that ran down his back increased in speed and intensity. Maleficent found herself pushing harder into Diavals back.

"Oh my goodness!" She began to pivot her waist pushing and pulling herself into Diavals back. But this time he was caught off balance and stumbled.

"Diaval!" Maleficent shouted, as she could feel his front end loose footing and partially dip down. She knew for sure she was going to be thrown from his back. But a couple stumbles and he caught himself and slowed to a stop. He was relieved that there wasn't an accident. He turned his head to look back to her.

"I'm sorry, Diaval."

Diaval whinied and shook his head that he understood.

"Go ahead, I will stop so you can concentrate on getting us to the waterfall."

The waterfall wasn't very far off, but Maleficent felt a bit embarrassed for loosing control like that. Diaval got back up to pace and they soon arrived at their destination.

She waved her hand and transformed him back to man.

Diaval glared at her, "You really took me by surprise, Maleficent. I could have fallen and hurt you."

"I'm sorry, but when we first started riding together it was something I was thinking of wanting to do, but never followed through as I didn't know how you would react, but now that we have shared our feelings for each other..." She began to ramble so fast she stumbled on her words. She then stopped and caught her breath. "Diaval, just understand it has been a long time."

"Yes, I understand. Just warn me ahead of time. If I was the dragon, something like that could have knocked me out of the sky." he warned. "That inch needed scratching, huh?" He asked.

"Yes, it did..." she paused. "Will you help scratch it for me?" she asked as she put her arms around his waist.

"Of course." Diaval said.

The small waterfall and watering hole was were Maleficent and Diaval would normally bathe (separately) before they built the house in the thorn wall. It was more intimate and private than the large waterfall, but it also offered less of a scenic view as the watering hole was in a bowl like depression and was mostly surrounded by rocks except for the west end where the entrance was. That area was mostly trees. The west end emptied into the river that went past the Rowan Tree. There were many rocks near the waterfall end and it looks as if there was a fence like structure built around one of the larger rocks that was situated slightly back from the water.

"I don't remember that being there" Diaval asked in regards to the fence like structure. "No, it wasn't. Perhaps it is part of the surprise Aurora mentioned."

They walked around the edge of the watering hole until they got near the rock which was very close to the waterfall. The fence went almost around one side of the rock save for a small door sized opening on one end.

Inside, the lower edge of the rock curved down and formed a large crux that resembled a large couch or small bed, just big enough for two to lay down in. Within the crux the there were down feathers and this in turn was covered by nice thick fur blankets very similar to Maleficen'ts bed in the Rowan Tree.

"Wow, that is nice!" Diaval said, "They were thoughtful enough to make a bed for us."

"I guess they are expecting us to stay the night." Maleficent said.

"I believe the two have planned us to do much more."

"Indeed they have."

At the foot of the 'bed' there was another small flat rock and towels, soap and sponges were left on top of it. There were all sorts of different candles that were about. Some candles were lined up to make a walkway towards the waterfall. The two walked hand in hand as they followed the candles to the waterfall and there were more towels there and also a change of clothes. Next to the clothes was a basket loaded with all sorts of fruits.

Maleficent swallowed hard, "Oh, it was sweet of them to do this."

"Yes, it is." Diaval said, he also swallowed hard all of a sudden getting very nervous. "Well, what would you like to do first? Would you like to bathe first or have something to eat?"

"Neither, but I _do_ want to get out of these clothes." She said.

"Ok, I will get the change of clothes that they left for us."

"Diaval...That is not what I had in mind," she said seductively. "I want _you_ to undress me. I don't want to change into anything."

His eyes widened and he swallowed hard.

"You...You mean you are going to let me see you naked?"

"Uh huh...You didn't think we are going to get intimate fully clothed did you?"

"Uh, no. Of Of Of course not." Diaval stuttered.

"Besides, you saw me naked before, so don't be bashful."

"Yes, but that was an accident and it was very brief. What about your..." Diaval asked as he gestured to the spot on her back where her wings were.

"Don't worry, you have also seen those before as well. Also Aurora has arranged it so that no one will be near here ensuring our time here is private."

Maleficent looked around at everything that was done for them.

"Come now, I don't want to be in this gown any longer."

The two walked back to where the 'bed' was, Maleficent leading. Wnen they were behind the fence she whipped around and held her arms slightly open welcoming him. She was a beautiful sight standing like that, her beautifuly long split bell sleeves hung down from her elbow. She had a radiant smile on her face.

Diaval was hesitant as he slowly approached Maleficent. As soon as he was within arm's length, she grabbed his waist and forcefully drew him into her body.

"Uh!" Diaval exclaimed.

She wrapped her arms around his chest and rested her cheek against his. He could feel her breasts pressed hard against his chest. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing heavy. He wrapped his arms around her small waist and also pulled her in tight. The strong embrace felt amazing.

She looked up to his face and they were very close. Her eyes looked at his lips and Diaval could see her purse her lips. She wanted to kiss and he brought his lips to hers. Both closed their eyes.

First it was a little pecking, very quick small tight kisses just exploring around the lips. But then their lips fully locked and the kiss deepened very quickly. She placed her hands on the sides of his head as her kisses became deeper. She was somewhat forceful but gentle at the same time. He tried to fully put his mouth around her lips, but they were very full and he found her over taking his lips very easily fully embracing his mouth with hers. Her breathing became rapid and he could hear the air rush in and out of her nostrils. He then allowed his tongue to pass in her mouth and touch her tongue.

"Hmmmmmm", she moaned.

He did it again and pressed harder on her tongue.

"Hmmmmmhummmm", she moaned even louder this time. She then pushed harder, almost knocking him off balance.

She wrapped her arm around his neck and the other behind his head and then drove her tougue deep into his mouth and curled her tongue around his.

"Hmmmmmmm", Diaval moaned this time. Clearly this was very intense and nothing what he ever anticipated. The feeling took him by storm and even could feel his knees begin to give.

"Oh! Diaval, I got you." Maleficent was caught by surprise and quicly put her arms under his arms and braced her legs to hold him. But he was fine.

He stared into her yellow green eyes with an astonished look on his face.

"That was incredible! Kissing is so fantastic. You are wonderful."

"Thank you and yes kissing is wonderful," Maleficent had a smirk on her face as she twirled a lock of her hair in the fingers. "You are a pretty darn good kisser. Your kisses are not hard and abrupt like Stefan's were, they are soft and sweet, firm but gentle."

"I am very pleased you enjoyed it."

She found herself leaning her waist to one side and positioned herself over his right leg. She started to push herself into his leg.

Diaval ran his eyes along her exposed neckline and shoulders. He found himself getting that tingling feeling again.

She then pulled back and turned around with her backside to him. She pulled her hair to the the front and tipped her head a bit down. "Go ahead, the buttons are hidden under the large seam."

Diaval gulped rather loudly as he nervously reached for the top buttons. He worked the top button loose and then the next. He continued down until he got to the sixth button and the dress started to peel itself down off her back exposing her stumps. Maleficent reached up and held the front part of the dress up. He began to feel remorseful of her loss and placed his forehead on her head behind her horns. He placed his hand right in between her stumps where there were very small feathers grew out from her back. He then moved his hand to just below this area and gently rubbed the backside of his fingernails up and down her back. Immediately her breathing intensified and she hung her head lower and she arched her shoulders backward and let out a small yelp-ish moan. Diaval withdrew.

"Its OK. That's just one of my sweet spots, Diaval. I have a heightened sense of touch there. Just continue to be soft and gentle, what you are doing feels wonderful."

"I am glad, I only ever wanted to make you feel good."

"You have already and I know you always will. I want my first time with you to be special."

"I will try my best, but this is my first time period."

"Don't worry, I will tell you what to do, but don't be afraid to ask if you want me to do something for you. Remember you are no longer my servant and I want to do something for you for all you have done for me."

"Thank you, Maleficent. Those are such beautiful words. I never thought I would hear you say something like that."

"Diaval, much will be changing between us now. Let me know what you would like me to do."

"Well, I _do_ want to make love to you."

"That's inevitable as I am so darn ripe I am ready to fall off the tree."

Diaval didn't know what to make of what she said, but he giggled a little bit as he continued to rub that spot on her back. She, in turn, continued to let out small moans and sighs. Sometimes her stumps would twitch or even flutter at his touch, and despite their current movement of pleasure, a wave of sadness came over him as he envisioned her wings still attached to her back. 'No, don't think of that or say anything', he thought to himself. 'This is her moment, don't spoil it.'

"Continue Diaval," she urged him to continue to unbutton her dress.

As Diaval continued to unbutton her dress, more and more of it peeled to the sides slowly revealing more of her back, he followed her lines as her upper back narrowed to her thin waist and again tappered back out to her hips and once more back in as he reached her thighs. He looked up and down her exposed back. She had a near perfect woman's shape. A little slight in the shoulders, but still a beautiful elongated hourglass shape. Her legs, which were slightly crossed the way she stood, were also perfect. Maleficent continued to hold on to the front of the dress as Diaval unbuttoned the final buttons. She then wanted to turn around, but Diaval held her waist. At first she wondered why, but then she felt his lips touch her lower back right at her hips. He then continued kissing her up her spine. The touch of his lips along her spine felt very erotic.

"Oh, Diaval. Th...That's so nice!" Maleficent arched a bit forward and this caused her spine to protrude more on her back, this intensified the feeling as his lips moved closer to the sweet spot under her wing stumps. Her eyes closed tighter as he reached this spot and he continued to kiss her there.

"Oooooo. Ohhhh", Maleficent let out small moans and arched her neck down.

Diaval continued to kiss up her back and reached her neck. He could smell the sweet smell coming from her hair. He tilted his head to the right side of her neck nearly placing his head on her shoulder and he planted a deep kiss right on her neck. As he held her around the waist he could feel her body rapidly expand and contract from her breathing. Every now and then he looked up and could see her facial expressions of pure pleasure. Her mouth would open, but nothing was uttered, he only heard her heavy breathing. She leaned her head left to expose more of her neck to him. This encouraged him to continue further. The next kiss was very long and firm. It just hit her the right way and she found her knees began to buckle.

"Whoa", Diaval quickly grabbed a hold of her waist.

"Sorry, my turn. I wasn't expecting that, but it was wonderful. I think you found another sweet spot on my neck. I never been kissed there before."

"Yes, I think I have, my mistress."

She then turned around and said, "I told you that you don't have to call me that anymore." She put her arms straight down and allowed the dress to fall to the ground. Then as she did earlier at the coronation, she placed her thumb on her middle finger and splayed out her other fingers and raised her forearms up. She then turned her head up and looked straight into his eyes. It appeared she was displaying for him.

She was a beautiful sight made even more so that he was allowed to look at her with the top half of her body and legs completely exposed. She pulled her hair back over to her backside.

"Oh, my. Wow!" Diaval exlaimed his eyes wide.

"I take it you are pleased with what you are seeing."

"Yes, very much."

Diaval's eyes were drawn to her breasts. They were the perfect shape, just large enough for him to place his hand around. He raised his hands up, but then stopped.

"May I?"

"Yes, you may." Maleficent answered as she thought to herself. 'Such a gentleman, always asks permission before doing. Oh, do I love that about him.'

He placed his hands carefully on her breasts and she put her hands on his shoulders. Immediately she closed her eyes and tilted her head back, showing more of her neck. Her breathing intensified again.

"You can squeeze just a little, but not too hard. If you are not careful I can be hurt."

"Yes, understood."

He gently ran his hands over the entire circumferance of her breasts and then ran his fingers over the tops and then to her nipples. She let out a gasp and began to pivot her lower body and he was then drawn to the way her stomach moved and those two lines he liked that framed out her abs. They would appear and disappear as she pivoted her mid section.

"Diaval, you are making me feel...Oh, I am beginning to want you." With that, she pulled him close to her very hard. She felt something hard press up against her and then quickly Diaval pulled away.

"Ouch!" He yelled out.

She opened her eyes to find Diaval bent slightly over. She giggled a bit as below the waist his pants were completely stretched forward.

"I believe I want you too," Diaval said wincing in pain.

"Let me get you out of those, that looks uncomfortable."

She bent down and wrapped her fingers around both his pants and undergarment and pulled them down together.

Diaval closed his eyes out of embarassment as now she was about to expose his nearly erect manhood.

He then heard a subdued voice, say, "Oh my."

He opened one eye to find Maleficent sitting up and leaning forward, her eyes were locked on to his midsection. He started to feel even more embarrassed, but he had to pop the question on his mind.

"Does it meet with your expectations?"

"Exceeds actually. It looks very impressive, much nicer than Stefan's for sure and you are not fully erect either."

Diaval breathed a sigh of relief as it appeared he at least looked better than her former lover.

She started to lick her lips and curl them. She then stood up and turned towards the rock. She turned to sit on the rock and crossed her legs. Then with her back she pushed herself up and in one swift move, pulled her undergarment to her legs. She pulled her legs up to her body in a seductive way as she inched her undergarment off her legs.

Diaval just watched.

She then stood up and walked with a swagger slowly towards Diaval. His eyes were trained on her main womanly feature between her legs. There was much in terms of curly dark hair, but it was nicely patterned into a small elongated triangle.

Seeing her walk that way completely naked was becoming too much and he could feel himself begin to tingle more and become more erect.

She reached for his shirt and began to pull it up and off his back. Her eyes widened as she saw his now naked body.

Both of them gave each other staircase eyes looking each other up and down.

She then ran the back of her fingernails across the scars on his collarbones. He eyed her waist, reached out and pulled her in. She could feel his penis resting up on her bare leg as she put her arms around his neck.

"Oh, Diaval. You are really stiff. I think we should take care of that now, huh?"

He nodded as she began to pivot her waist into him.

Diaval gasped and a trembling feeling ran through his body.

"Are you Ok?"

"Yes, Maleficent, my dear. The feeling is very strong."

"Is it now", she said as she then did the unexpected. She reached down and wrapped her fingers around him and began to gently rub him up and down. She could feel him get even harder. 

'Oh, my', she thought to herself. 'I want him inside of me so badly.'

Diaval's eyes widened and he grew very still. All Maleficent could hear was his heavy breathing. His eyes were closed tight and then he rested his head on her shoulder.

She turned and let go and took Diavals hand and walked him over to the rock and she turned and leaned up against it.

"I want you to touch me."

Diaval reached his hands up her shoulders and then let his fingers pass down the length of her arms.

She caught his right hand and said, "No, not my arms, but me...here."

She placed his hand right over her private area on top of her hair. Diavals eyes widened as he wasn't expecting her to put his hand where she did. Her hair, like his in this area, was very curly. But her's was very soft. He gently rubbed the top carefully and slowly in a circular motion. He didn't say anything but just watched the expression on her face.

She closed her eyes and opened her mouth slightly. She put her arms around his neck and began to breathe very heavy. Diaval kept circling, but then she put her hand on top of his and pushed down. One of his fingers discovered the slit between her labias. He looked up to make sure if it was OK.

"Yes, go ahead. But gently." she said.

With a bit of pressure his finger pushed past her labias. Inside, she was very warm and moist.

"Ohhhhhhhhh", she practically yelled out and her outburst caused Diaval to withdraw.

"No, No. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. It has been just such a long time and I may have some loud outbursts like that," she said.

"I didn't know, at first I thought I hurt you."

"Oh Diaval, you are too kind. No, you didn't hurt me, quite the opposite rather. Please continue." she urged. She closed her eyes again and tilted her head back against the rock.

Diaval placed his finger once again past her labias, they seemed to feel firmer now than before. He moved his finger around the moist areas inside until he reached a small stiff protrusion.

Her eyes flew open wide and her body shuddered, fingers splayed and her breathing became hesitant.

"Are you OK?"

"Yes, Yes, now just rub around that small stiff part."

He continued to slowly rub around that area. Her eyes closed tight and her mouth opened. Then her whole midsection began to undulate. She laid her back fully against the rock.

"Ooooooooooo" She exclaimed. "Go ahead touch the stiff part right on top."

Her body shuddered again and she let out a loud squeal and her breathing became very intense. She picked up her right leg and swung it around his body hooking around his buttocks. Diaval began to rub her leg with his left hand while still rubbing her clitoris. He could feel her become extremely moist. Her labias were much larger now than when he started. Her clitoris was also becoming larger and stiffer. Her body undulations grew faster.

"Ok, Ok, Ok" she panted. She put her leg back down but kept it spread a bit out from her other leg.

"Ok, I'm good." she said looking at his penis. It had become a bit soft while he aroused her. She embraced him hard and then turned him around so he was resting against the rock.

"Your turn now."

Diaval gulped hard not knowing what to expect as she bent her knees a bit and placed his penis right between her legs and she began to rub up and down.

"Ahhhhhhhhh", Diaval called out.

"See, your turn now."

"I see what you mean", he squinted hard as he moaned. He could feel himself get very stiff.

Then suddenly she stopped and walked over to the bed and laid down on it very seductively with one leg straight and the other bent at the knee straight up and she leaned on one arm.

She had a very pleased look on her face.

"Take me, Diaval, I'm ready."

"Yes, my dear Maleficent."

His voice sounded so pleasing that it was enough to add to her tingling sensation. He laid on the bed next to her, but she pulled at his arm.

"Oh, I love it when you say that."

"Say what?"

"Dear."

"Is that what you want me to call you?

"Yes! But of course." she exclaimed and then paused. "I want you on top."

She laid flat on the bed and parted her legs slightly. He climbed on top and she took a hold of his hand.

"Ok, you remember the small stiff part, now go lower."

He placed his finger once again near her clitoris and she guided it a little further down and then he could feel the opening to her vagina. She let out a moan. "Yes, Yes, that's it, that is where you will go."

Diaval positioned himself over her and very gently placed the tip of his penis where his finger was.

He very carefully and slowly pushed himself into her and the feeling was incredible as he slowly slid deeper inside and could feel her wrap around him. About half way in his tingling turned to a throbbing and he squeezed a little bit and this made him even harder for a brief moment.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh, Oooooooo", Maleficent let out a long loud moan which seemed to grow in intensity as he contined to push the rest of the way into her. He positioned his arms just outside of hers. And he slowly began to move in and out. The movement seemed awkward at first but after repositioning himslef a couple of times he finally became comfortable.

Maleficent found herself suddering. She grabbed Diavals arms and squeezed hard.

"Are you comfortable?", he asked breathing hard himself

"Oh, yes. Ohhhh, It's been so long. You can go a little faster, but push in further."

She then grabbed his wrists and pulled his arms up and placed his hands over her breasts.

"Rub your fingers over them", she motioned to her nipples.

He wrapped his hand around her sides and did so with his thumbs. He rubbed lightly in a circular motions.

She then cried out, "Oh, this is so wonderful. Go ahead, push a little faster."

"My dear?"

"Yes?"

"I feel something new now, like a pressure is building."

"Yes, me too."

He started to slow down and leaned forward again putting his arms back down.

"What is it?"

"You think you are getting ready to climax. Please just resist it a bit longer, it is very special if we climax together. I am almost there myself." she said between panting. She began to run her fingers along his scars, the feeling of them under her fingers made her tingle even more.

"What's going to happen?"

"Let's just say you we are both going to see stars. Go faster, Diaval!"

He picked up the pace a bit and got a good rhythm going.

She looked into his eyes, "It's building. I'm just about there."

"Ok, I think I can hold out a just a bit longer."

She began to rub her hands up and down the back of his arms, feeling his tricep muscles bulge. That was the feeling that started to push her over the edge. Her eyes started to tear.

"I don't think I can hold the feeling back any more. It's really becoming intense,"

"Go ahead, I'm ready. Let go."

Diaval slowed down a little bit but his thrusting deepened. He began to get harder than ever. He laid down on top of Maleficent and wrapped his arms around her. She wrapped her arms around him and began to dig her nails into his back.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" he exlaimed.

"Oh, my goodness!" She yelled out louder than before, tears rolled down from her eyes.

Diaval felt a tightening around him from within her and with one more good thrust, he could feel a fluid shoot though him and release into her body. Her whole body shook from the sensation.

Maleficent called out, "Ohhhhhh Wonderful."

Diaval found that afterwards, there were some minor pulses that ran down his body and through to his penis and with each pulse Maleficent shuddered.

"That _was_...beautiful." Diaval exclaimed.

"Oh, what a feeling I have in me now. Thank You Diaval. After this, I don't ever want to be alone again."

"You don't have to be, I want to do this over and over again with you. It's such a great feeling."

Maleficent giggled, "Yes, I to want this over and over again."

Diaval slowly began to withdraw himself from Maleficent when she stopped him.

"No, No. Please stay inside of me."

He pushed himself back in.

"Oh!"

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, it is just when you did that, I got another tingling sensation."

"You are ready to go again?"

"Yes."

Then a past conversation Diaval had with Robin came to pass. He remembered that guys need time to 'reset' after they climax and women don't, they can climax one after the other which is why it is very important to any gentleman to make sure SHE goes first.

Diaval still felt he was stiff enough, but he was a bit softer than before.

"I can make you go again."

"Yes, Please."

Diaval raised himself back up on his arms and once again started to undulate, but his personal desire this time was much less as he wanted to rest, but his drive to make his partner happy was greater.

She let out a few more moans before she said to Diaval, "Ok, it is going to happen again."

Diaval arched his thrusting a bit more this time as he felt he wasn't as stiff.

"Go faster Diaval"

She rubbed her hands over his shoulders, feeling the muscles beneath his skin move as he moved back and forth. She also pushed hard into him.

"Here it comes!" She moaned loudly. "Ohhhhhh! Ahhhh!"

Diaval pushed as deep as he could and he watched as Maleficent splayed her hands out on the bed, all of the muscles in her arms contracted and her eyes closed really tight. She looked incredibly sexy.

Diaval could feel her tighten up again. He was happy to know that he was able to satisfy her again. But then as she opened her eyes, a red tear trickled down from each eye. This caught Diaval by surprise and he quickly withdrew in shock.

"Diaval? What's the matter?" she said in a surprised tone wondering why he withdrew so fast.

"Your eyes, it is happening again. Your tears are red."

"Oh?" Maleficent herself sounded stunned, but when she reached up to wipe her tears, they were indeed red.

Diaval got up and took one of the smaller towels and ran to the water to make it moist, he returned and gave it to Maleficent.

"Thank you, Diaval."

"You're welcome, my misstr...my Dear," he corrected himself.

She smiled when he called her that.

He noticed it was getting dark out. He lit a couple of the candles around the bed all the while he could feel her looking at him and not taking her eyes off him. He every now and then looked up and smiled. When he was done with the candles, he climbed back in to the bed with her.

"Why the red tears?" He asked. "You are not upset, right?"

"No, I am not. I guess...it just felt so good. It must have happened in a fit of ecstacy." She explained.

"So it happened out of extreme joy?"

"Yes"

"Did it happen when you made love to Stefan?"

"No...and from what I consider, that was just sex I had with him. What I just shared with you just now, _that_ was making love."

"So I take it I satisfied you better?"

"Oh, absolutely. Diaval you were so fantastic...as with everything, you are so giving. When Stefan was done having sex with me he rolled over. He wouldn't continue to make me feel good even though I wanted more. You didn't do that, you wanted to please me and let me go again. You made me cry red tears of joy. With you I was making love, my pet, my true love.

Diaval had a huge smile on his face and put his arms around Maleficent's waist.

"I am very happy to hear that, my dear."

"I have come to the realization that everything that has transpired since the loss of my wings happened for a reason. If Stefan didn't take my wings, I would have never have met you or Aurora. Furthermore, we would not be at peace with the humans. I would have still been all alone. I wouldn't have shared this wonderful moment with you."

"So then I take it you finally have come to peace with the loss of your wings in that what you gained out of your loss matters to you more."

"Yes, Diaval, you have always been so smart. You figured that out. And I still can fly...with you. I don't ever want to fly alone again."

Diaval's eyes began to well up as she continued. "You also showed me how to love again and put my focus in life where it belongs and for that alone I will always love you."

Diaval couldn't contain himself any longer and the tears rolled down his face.

"Looking back on my fate, if it wasn't for you, there wouldn't be a me. I would have been killed under that net that day. Even though I first resented you turning me human...now I embrace it whole heartedly. You truly gave me a new life and I never felt more alive than I do now. _I'm alive_ because of you."

Tears started to flow from her eyes as well.

"I have chosen you as my mate for life as I will always love you my dearest Maleficent."

Reader's note: The story will continue...


	15. Chapter 15: Afterglow

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 15 – Afterglow in Unison

Maleficent had awaken, not realizing that she must have fallen asleep. She remembered the sweet words that were exchanged in what seemed like moments ago. But glancing over to one of the candles on the ground, it was considerably shorter. Also the sky, which was dark blue as night was approaching, was now black. She looked at Diaval and he was sleeping. She also noticed that a blanket was drawn over their bodies up to their mid sections, which wasn't there when they were speaking. Diaval must have drawn the covers.

"Hmmm, I must have dozed off for quite a while," she thought to herself. "Oh, dear, I hope Diaval wasn't saying something sweet or special to me and I went out like that on him."

At first she didn't want to move as she was still lying on top of Diaval and could feel the warmth from his body. One of his arms was still around her waist. She looked out across the pond to see a group of fireflies hover above the water and then slowly rise out of the depression and fly off into the prefectly clear sky. Many stars were out. The glow from all the candles and irridescent flower vines really set a nice romantic and peaceful mood. All sorts of glowing insects and plants just lit up the whole perimeter of the small lake.

"Ahhhh, Robin and Aurora, you both did such a wonderful job at making this romantic." she sighed, perhaps a bit too loudly.

Diaval snorted a bit as he caught himself mid breath.

"Wa? What? Did you say something, my dear?" Diaval said as he rubbed his eyes with his free hand.

"Yes, I was saying that Robin and Aurora did such a nice wonderful job at setting this up for us," Maleficent repeated herself.

Diaval looked around as he was coming too. "Did I fall asleep?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered, "I did too. It is fully dark out now"

"Oh," Diaval yawned as he outstreteched both arms.

"Did you pull the covers up?" Maleficent asked.

"Yes, once I caught my breath and cooled down I figured it would be a bit chilly for you as well. I asked if you were cold, and that was when I noticed you were already asleep," he answered. "I used my feet to assist in pulling the covers up as I didn't want to wake you," then he paused. "I bet you must be exhausted from making love."

"Yes, I guess I must have to have gone out like that. But I didn't feel tired," she paused and then continued, "It was more a feeling of fulfilment. I...I just never felt this at peace with myself, or with anyone, for such a long time."

"That is sweet of you to say. For me, a huge weight was lifted off my chest. I didn't know what was wrong with me when all the while it was just my human body telling me that I was falling in love with you. It is an awesome feeling...just amazing."

Maleficent giggled. She slid down to lay beside Diaval and in doing so, noticed that she felt the hairs between her legs were stuck to Diaval's leg and both of them yelped as she pulled free.

"Oh, Diaval, I'm sorry...I'm messy," she laughed slightly. "I think I need to get cleaned up and perhaps we can have a bite to eat afterwards."

"Are _you_ Ok?" Diaval asked with concern in his voice. "I felt that."

"Yes, I am fine, it is just more of an awkward moment than anything else."

Maleficent got up and went over to the stack of towels by the bed and bent down to pick them up. She then heard a small shallow whistle. She turned her head back up to look at Diaval. He was propped up in the bed and his eyes were trained on her bare buttocks.

"Do you like what you see?" she asked.

"Most definitely, my dear," he answered. "You have a lovely bottom."

Maleficent giggled and smiled as she stood up and started to follow the candle path to the waterfall. She stopped and glanced back again to see Diaval still having his eyes trained on her backside.

She turned around and said, "Well? Aren't you coming?"

"Wa Wahh?"

"You didn't think on such a beautiful night I was going to bathe myself...did you?" she asked seductively.

"Oh, no, my mistress," Diaval answered as he jumped out of the bed and ran over to join Maleficent.

Maleficent put her arms on her hips and had a little stern look on her face. Diaval's eyes widened as he got a good look at how she was standing. Her hair was draped down her shoulders and perfectly covered each of her breasts and reached as far down as her hips. She then criss crossed her hands in front of her as she said, "Diaval, no more mistress. I am your lover now." She put her hands back on her hips.

"I am sorry, but it is just habit, my dear."

"That's much better."

Maleficent was getting ready to turn back around, but noticed Diaval's eyes running up and down her body. She just smiled. Finally his eyes reached hers.

"Finished?" she said sarcastically. "Touching is better than looking, wouldn't you think?"

As she said that, she realized that she ended up doing the same thing, running her eyes down from his head down his neck and then following the large scar she liked so much down to his midsection and stopping right between his legs.

Diaval looked down and ahead at her to meet her eyes and said in the same sarcastic tone, "Finished?"

Maleficent just busted out laughing and then smiled back at Diaval, "I guess we are going to be checking each other out quite a bit now, huh?"

"I...I can't help it, Maleficent, you really are beautiful," Diaval stuttered a bit. "I can't keep from looking at you."

Maleficent could feel her face begin to flush and she dipped her head down and reached with one hand behind her neck.

"Awww, you are very handsome and dashing yourself," she replied.

"You are even more beautiful now...your face..."

Maleficent interrupted, "I know, I must be blushing."

Slightly embarrassed, Maleficent turned towards the waterfall and held her hand out. Diaval came up beside her and took her hand. They walked the candlelit path to the waterfall. On the bank of the pond were some towels and a change of clothes for both of them. Next to that was a bottle of soap and some sponges in a basin.

The sound of the waterfall was much louder close up, but being a much smaller waterfall then the main one on the Moors, it was still easy to talk over it. The waterfall was just wide enough for two people to stand under it if they were close together.

"I would like to bathe you first," Maleficent said.

"Ok," Diaval nodded.

"Just sit down on the rock in front of the waterfall and I will get the soap and sponges."

Diaval marched into the water boldly showing off a bit. However, the it was cooler than expected even though it was still warm enough to bathe in.

"How is the water?" she giggled as she shouted back, noticing the look on his face.

"It's a bit on the cool side, but still OK," he yelled back to her.

"It is becoming autumn, Diaval," Maleficent said, "The water will not be as warm as the summer. Don't worry, Aurora provided a basin. I can warm up some water in here, so we can have warm water to clean ourselves. But we will rinse off under the waterfall, and that can be quite cool at night since that water comes from the hills.

Maleficent started back to the rock with the basin containing the soap and sponges in hand. She continued, "As you know, as it gets later, the air will actually get cooler. I certainly would like to be in the water by then."

"Thanks for the warning," Diaval gave a leary look at the waterfall behind him, he could feel the cool mist coming up from the pond onto the rocks.

"Oh, come now, don't look so glum. As we rinse off, you will have my body next to you to warm you up."

With that, Diaval's eyes perked up as he looked to Maleficent. She had an evil grin on her face. She then walked into the water. Her face grimaced a bit.

"You are right, it is a bit cool, but when you are in the cool water long enough you get used to it.

"Yes," Diaval answered. "But then it is getting out that is the hard part."

"Indeed it is. We will have to keep each other warm then, Diaval."

"I am looking forward to that."

"As do I."

Maleficent smiled as she bent down and dipped the basin into the water to fill it up. She brought the basin over to Diaval and set it down next to him.

With a smile on her face, she said, "Watch this."

Maleficent placed both of her hands on the large rock and a series of orange whisps eminated from her hands and disappeared into the rock.

After a while Diaval exclaimed, "I can feel it, you are making the whole rock warm." The look on his face was sheer wonder. Maleficent withdrew on hand off the rock and shifted one hand to the basin. In a matter of seconds Diaval could see steam rising from the water.

"Ok, Ok. It's starting to get hot now."

"Yes, the water is nice and hot, perfect for bathing."

"No, I meant the rock!"

"Oh!" Maleficent said as she pulled her hands away.

"So that is how we can keep warm? Your magic never ceases to amaze me, my dear," Diaval said happily, "You truly are wonderful."

"Thank you, my pet...But the effect is temporary and with a rock this size, the heat will wear off in about a hour as the air cools the rock off." Maleficent paused, "Diaval?"

"Yes?" he answered.

"You have a pet name for me by calling me 'dear', but is there something loving you want me to call you by. I don't really feel comfortable calling you 'my pet' any longer."

"I don't know," Diaval replied, "Perhaps you could give me one?"

"I would have to give it some thought on something sweet to call you," she said. "Turn around, I am going to do your back first."

Diaval turned around with his back to Maleficent. She dipped the sponge into the water and then open up the bottle of soap and poured some onto the sponge.

Maleficent lightly placed the sponge between his shoulder blades. Some of the hot water ran down his back. He arched his back forward.

"Whoa! That is a bit hot, my dear."

"Oh, hush now. The water has to be somewhat hot to get you clean. Just take it in and enjoy. I'll take care of you," Maleficent said in a very soothing voice.

With one hand she slowly rubbed the sponge all across the top of his back. She then placed her hands on his back and rubbed the soap in. She then sat closer behind him and placed each of her legs past his sides with her knees bent.

"Wow, that feels nice."

"Here, rest your arms on my knees."

"Even nicer!"

Diaval rested his hands on her knees instead. Maleficent reached her hands around his shoulders at the base of the neck and she began to message the soap into his neck with her thumbs. She was soft at first, but then her massaging grew firmer.

"Let me know if I am doing this too hard," she said. "I am known to have a good grip and I don't want to hurt you."

"Yes, I am well aware of how powerful your hands are. But, no, that's fine." Diaval gasped. "It feels so good."

As Maleficent rubbed his back and began to work out to his shoulders, she could feel one knot after the other. "You are very tense, my love," Maleficent said. "You are all knotted up, but what on earth for?"

"It is probably my nerves. I just wanted our first love making to be special."

"It _was_ special...rather incredible, I must say. You don't have to worry. You did great."

After she spoke those words, Maleficent could feel Diaval relax his arms as she dragged the sponge down his left arm and then his right. As with his back she firmly rubbed the soap into his arms concentrating mostly on his shoulders and running her fingers down his biceps. She reached forward to rub down to his forearms while pressing her breasts into his back. She began to breath heavier and also she noted Diaval was also breathing pretty heavy as well. With her body still leaned forward, she gave him a gentle kiss at the base of his neck. As she was kissing, she let her tongue protrude from her mouth and give his neck a gentle lick. She could hear Diaval breathe harder and faster.

"You are going to turn me on, my dear, if you keep that up," Diaval said swallowing hard.

"Oh? Is that so? Perhaps that is my intention," she spoke with a sultry sound in her voice. With that she wrapped her legs around his waist. She continued with his arms as she ran her fingers into every curve and indentation concentrating on areas such as the bend in his arms and the inside length of his arms. Soon he was becoming aroused from the sensation. He could start to feel a tingle between his legs. She certainly would feel it if he became larger with her legs wrapped around him like that. She then loaded her hands up with soap and reached around under his arms and worked the soap into his chest.

"Oh my," Diaval's voice quavered.

Diaval sat looking down at his lover's legs which were criss crossed around his waist. A beautiful pair of arms were wrapped around his chest and abdomen with hands that were firmly rubbing soap all over his body. Her fingers paying extra attention to the scars on his chest and abdomen. All the while Maleficent was rubbing soap on his body, he noticed a familiar sweet smell. By now he had made the connection that the sweet smell he always smelled on Maleficent was coming from the soap, but he never asked why it smelled sweet.

"What is that sweet smell?" Diaval asked. "I know it is coming from the soap. What is it?"

"Lavender, It comes from a purplish flower that grows around the Faerie Mound. That is what I use to make the soap with," she answered. "Sometimes I use Honeysuckle which is another type of flower, but that is much harder to find. Usually it was in places I had to fly to when I had my wings."

"Is there honey in a Honeysuckle plant?" Diaval asked.

Maleficent giggled, "No, they just name the flower that as it gives off a strong sweet smell in bloom."

Maleficent paused a bit. "You know what?"

"Yes, my dear?" Diaval asked.

"I think I found your 'pet' name."

"Oh, what is it?"

"Honey. I believe I will call you honey because you are so sweet to me."

"Ok, that sounds nice, my dear."

"Then Honey it is, my Honey."

Diaval chuckled as the soap was dripping down from his chest and on to her legs. Diaval began rubbing the soap up and down her legs.

"Oh, turning the tables now on me, huh?" Maleficent asked.

"Perhaps. What you are doing feels so great, I want you to feel good as well," Diaval said.

"Always wanting to put me before yourself," Maleficent said sweetly as she passed the sponge up to Diaval. "Ok, then, go ahead and do my legs then."

Diaval's looked up and down her legs as he lathered up his hands. His breathing began to deepen.

Maleficent also lathered up her hands, reached around and ran her hands from Diaval's abdomen all the way up to his chin. Her fingers slowly went from firm to a gentle caress when they reached his neck.

"Oh, you are definitely going to turn me on," Diaval swallowed hard.

"Well then, let's talk about the first thing that 'pops up'," Maleficent said her voice still very sultry. Her voice was becoming smoother, deeper and sexier as she continued.

"Your voice sounds amazing," Diaval said. "It's different from how you normally talk. It's very enticing."

"Why thank you, honey. It is mostly because of the way I feel right now. I am in such a good mood."

Diaval started to run his soap filled hands from Maleficent's knees down her lower legs and to her feet. His fingers intertwined with her toes and then he gently rubbed the tops of her feet. His gentle touch made her sigh.

"Hmmmmmm, Diaval, now you are making me feel good," she sighed as she spoke. "One day I am definitely going to ask you for a foot massage."

"I could give you one now."

"No, you don't have to. I would like to finish bathing soon, the air is getting cooler as it gets later."

"Yes I have noticed," Diaval agreed. "Another time perhaps."

Diaval continued by rubbing the sponge back on her legs. Then he ran his fingers from her knees back down her thighs. His hands curved around the inside of her legs and got very close to her sweet area.

"Hmmmmmmm", Maleficent let out another sigh."

She reached forward and asked Diaval for the sponge which he gave to her. She dipped the sponge in the water and added more soap. She worked up the lather in the sponge. Then all of a sudden, Diaval felt a large plop on top of his head and the soap began to run down his face and down towards his eyes. Luckily he was fast enough to close them.

"Whoa! Maleficent ?!" Diaval exlaimed.

"Oh my! I am so sorry! I was going to wash your hair. There was too much water in the sponge and it slipped. I didn't mean to drop it on your head like that. Just keep your eyes closed."

Diaval could feel her pull back the excess water out of his hair and with a towel she wiped his face.

"Thank You," he replied. "I can get it from here."

Maleficent gave the towel to Diaval and he was wiping his eyes, Maleficent began to rub the soap through his hair splaying out her fingers as she rubbed the soap deep into his scalp. He kept his eyes closed and just took in the feeling.

"Oh, that feels great, my dear," Diaval said softly. "You have such nice hands and fingers."

"Thank You, I am glad you are enjoying it, Honey. I like making you feel good too."

Maleficent pulled her legs back and crawled around to the front of Diaval and gently sat down on his lap facing him and her soapy legs wrapped around his waist.

He started to open his eyes as she put one hand on his shoulder and leaned back towards the waterfall to rinse out the sponge. He was staring straight at her breasts, but he quickly looked up to her face. She smiled down to his face.

"Keep your eyes closed, honey. I am going to rinse your hair out".

"Ok."

Diaval cringed and tensed up as the water ran from his head down his back. The water from the waterfall seemed much cooler than that of the pond itself.

"Whoa! That's MUCH colder."

"So it is," Maleficent said as she ran her fingers through his hair and wrang out the soap. She did this a few times before finally getting up and picking up the basin. She emptied it out and put some fresh water in it from the waterfall. She wiggled her fingers over the basin and the same orange glow came forth as before and soon steam was rising from the basin. She dipped the sponge in the water and put soap on to it and then looked over to Diaval with an evil smirk on her face.

Diaval asked, "Your turn now?"

"Uh, huh." Maleficent answered seductively. She sat down in front of Diaval and she shimmied into position between his legs. Diaval couldn't help but reach out and place his hand right on her sweet spot on her back.

Maleficent looked back and smiled, "I will do your legs while you do my back." She ran the warm sponge up and down each his legs slowly.

"That's better, nice and warm."

Diaval watched Maleficent's arms as she stroked his legs working the lather from the soap into them. His eyes were fixed on the little indentations that formed and disappeared on her shoulders. As she lifted her arms, her shoulders became more defined and curved into the middle part of her arm. He couldn't help put to place his hands over her shoulders. He enjoyed the feeling of movement from muscles in her arms. Between this and her rubbing his legs, he was quickly becoming aroused.

He looked down and could see his penis start to swell up and fast! There wasn't much room between it and Maleficent's back. He closed his eyes as he continued to rub her arms.

As he did earlier, Maleficent rubbed the soap down his calves and eventually reached his feet. She gave him a bit of a 'teasing' massage and then continued to run her hands back up his legs.

"Oh, that was nice! But why did you do that and then right away stop?" Diaval asked.

"I am teasing you," maleficent answered in her sexy voice.

"Wha Why?"

"Hmmm, just a little sample...Perhaps tomorrow night we can give each other that nice foot massage."

"Ahhhh, I see. I think I like the sound of that."

She reached the sponge back to Diaval and then ran her fingers down his soap covered legs and then back up to his thighs. Diaval kept watching her back arch and then when she pulled back and lifted her arms a bit he could see the outlines of the muscles in her upper back as they contracted.

Maleficent giggled, "I can feel you."

Diaval looked down and he was a bit embarrassed as his penis was now resting on her back and still getting larger. Diaval looked right between her stumps and then focused on her sweet spot. As she leaned forward again. He leaned forward himself and placed his lips right on her sweet spot and applied a gentle suction.

He could feel her stop and slightly dig her nails in his leg. Immediately her breathing became heavier.

"Touche," Diaval said.

"Touche? What do you mean?"

"For kissing me on the neck the way you did before."

"Oh, that," she giggled. "Please don't stop."

Diaval let the tip of his tongue touch her sweet spot. Her fingernails dug even deeper into his skin and her stumps fluttered a little. Her breathing became deeper.

"You keep doing that and you are going to be in trouble," she said softly.

Immediately Diaval stopped and said, "Trouble? But don't you like that?"

"Diaval Diaval...so naïve. I mean you will be in trouble in a good way," she informed him.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Do you want me to continue then?"

"Why don't you start to bathe me. I want to feel your hands on my body now."

She leaned forward and outretched her arms grabbing a hold of Diaval's ankles.

Diaval took this as that she was ready to have her back cleaned and he dipped the sponge into the basin and put some more soap on it. He started rubbing the sponge on her thin lower back first and worked up to the middle of her back. He then worked around her stumps and coyishly avoided her sweet spot and worked around to her armpits. Maleficent giggled a bit when he reached this area. She then sat up straight so diaval could sponge her upper back.

He stopped at her shoulders and then put the sponge down and worked the lather into her back. Now he gently and gracefully ran his fingers around her sweet spot and she slightly tensed up in anticipation. Finally he ran his fingers across her sweet spot and she let out a long sigh.

"Ooooh, you tease me so. Making me want you." she said in a very sexy manner.

"No, not tease, but I do want to make you feel good as I am cleaning you."

"Uh, huh."

"And I wanted to save the best for last."

Maleficent was in another world as she closed her eyes and just felt Diaval's fingers run across her sweet spot. She could feel her stumps twitch every now and then at his gentle touch. Soon he began to explore her upper back, lightly pressing his thumbs into her back. He then began to massage her from her neck out to her her shoulders. Just a little over her left shoulder blade, Diaval hit a small knot she didn't even know she had.

"I think I found one," Diaval said.

"Yes you have," she confirmed. "Please keep rubbing that spot."

Maleficent slowly arched her shoulders forward, but leaned back into Diaval's hands.

She began to sigh, "Ooooo. That IS nice, honey."

Diaval continued to massage the knot above her shoulder blade with one hand and with the other he ran his fingers around the lower part of her back rubbing the soap in. The way he ran his hands across the indentation on her lower back caught her attention and she softly moaned.

Diaval stopped massaging her upper back and then ran both his hands across her lower back as she was responding more to his touch here.

"Hmmmm, you _are_ going to turn me on," Maleficent said.

"Maybe I want to do just that," Diaval said coyishly.

"Touche, huh?"

"Yep!"

"Then lets finish up. I will be soon ready for you," she said. "Don't forget my arms."

"No, I could never forget them. How could I forget something so beautiful."

"Awww, you like my arms, huh?"

"Yes, my dear, I love them actually. They are nice and defined."

Maleficent lifted her arms from her body and she felt Diaval's soap filled fingers run from her neck along her collar bones and out to her shoulders. In a similar manner as she did to him. He concentrated on her upper arms. She could actually feel him tracing out the muscles that lie beneath her skin.

She thought to herself, "Oh, I love his touch so much, it is almost like an artist drawing on a canvas. He is tracing every single curve and indentation on my body. Oh, I don't think I am going to make it. I think we are going to make love before he finishes with me." She could feel a tingling sensation from down south.

Maleficent suddenly got up and turned around and sat on Diaval's lap and she placed her arms around his neck.

"I want to see you."

"Ok, as you wish, my love."

Diaval smiled as he grabbed the sponge and lathered up his hands and then ran his fingers up and down her forearms concentrating on the spot inside her elbows.

She closed her eyes and then felt his hands run down from her shoulders to her chest and finally her breasts. She opened her mouth and let out a small gasp.

He began circling the soap around working out to her nipples. Her breathing deepened as when he reached them she tensed up digging her nails a bit into his back. From there he ran his hands down her mid section and her stomach. Once again he traced around her lines and then into her belly button.

She opened her eyes and swallowed hard. She gave him a deep stare into his eyes.

"Diaval, I am becoming _very_ ready. I want to make love to you again."

She then looked down and she saw that Diaval was nearly fully erect himself.

"As do I my dear...As do I."

"Ok, just quickly do my hair, first. I want to feel your fingers through my hair."

Maleficent turned back around and sat with her back once again to Diaval. She grabbed her hair and ran it down her back. She then felt Diaval rub his soap filled hands down her locks and gently worked the soap into her hair. He worked from the base of her neck down first. The gentle pulling of his fingers through her hair was beginning to turn Maleficent on. She totally embraced the moment as she knew they were going to soon make love again. The tingling sensation grew as Diaval was slowly approaching her other sweet spot between her horns. The closer he got to that spot, the tingling increased more and she closed her eyes. Finally his gentle rubbing fingers reached the spot right at the base of and in between her horns.

"Oooooh, you really know how to treat a woman right," she sighed.

"Thank you, my dear. That is one of the greatest compliments someone can give me. I am honored."

"Well, then, _thank you," _Maleficent said as she smiled but kept her eyes closed.

He continued to rub the soap into her hair around her horns.

Her breathing became very intense and the tingling between her legs became unbearable and she began to pivot her waist. As she rocked back and forth, she could feel Diaval's penis start to extend up along her lower back. This even made the feeling more intense.

She couldn't help but lean back with her soapy back into his chest, knocking him a bit off balance.

"Whoa!"

"Oh, sorry, It is just the feeling that is running through me when you do that. I just wanted to lean into you," Maleficent spoke slowly and softly, "I guess I over did it."

"There, I think that should do it. Wow, you sure do have a lot of hair!"

"Yes, I know, it even takes me a while to wash it." She got up and sat right under the waterfall leaning her hair back into it as she rinsed out. The water from the waterfall was really starting to get cool and she tried to rinse her hair out as quick as possible. As the water ran over her face and down her body, she started to shiver a bit.

"Is it cold?" Diaval asked.

"Yes, it is much colder than the lake, but come on, you quickly rinse off too. We can hold each other to keep warm."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Diaval exclaimed as he wasted no time in joining his sweetheart under the waterfall. As he walked over, Maleficent's eyes were trained on his manhood, which seemed to be getting larger with each passing moment. This was making her want him even more."

The two embraced under the waterfall as the cascading water washed away the soap.

"Wow, this water is cold!"

"Yes, but it is better now that we are holding each other, I can feel you pressing up against me. My you are stiff. It is making me want you inside of me."

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, and I been so for a while now. The way you touched me while we were bathing was enough to get me ready."

"Touching you was enough to do get me ready."

"I can see AND feel that," Maleficent giggled and then she looked out to the lake and said, "I want to make love to you in the lake."

"What?" Diaval asked, "Is that even possible?"

"I am sure it is. But as it is the lake is much warmer than the waterfall and the air right now. Take a look at the lake."

Diaval looked out to the lake and could see a foggy haze forming on the surface. He knew that this meant the water was warmer than the outside air.

"Ok, then let's give it a shot."

The two jumped off the rock together and into the lake.

"Oh, this IS much warmer," Diaval said.

"Yes, it is, much nicer."

The two drew closer and closer and finally put their arms around each other. Diaval put his arms around Maleficent's waist and she put her arms around his neck. The water they were standing in was almost chest high.

Maleficent closed her eyes and pursed her lips. A short moment later Diaval's lips met hers. She immediatelly went right into a deep kiss pushing her tongue into his mouth.

"Oh!", Diaval exclaimed. Her kiss easily overpowered him. She could feel him come back and his tongue passed into her mouth and intertwined with her tongue.

"Hmmmmmmm," Maleficent moaned as she moved her hands to behind his head. She could feel Diaval's hands move down to her buttocks. He pulled her close to him. She could feel Diaval pressing up against her...he was VERY hard. She pulled out of the kiss and looked Diaval deep into his dark eyes as he seemed puzzled at why she broke off the kiss.

"Go ahead," Maleficent said in a sultry voice. "I want you _now_."

"This is going to be interesting," Diaval said. "Standing up in the water?"

"Why not? I find it erotic and I would like to try to make love like this."

"Yes, as I said, I am going to find this interesting."

As he said that she pulled him back towards the rock and she rested her back against the rock. Then her dainty fingers wrapped around his penis and she gently guided him to her. She rubbed his penis a little along her clitoris and watched the expression on his face. His eyes were closed as he scrunched his face up as she guided him along her sweet area. Then she lined him up to just below her clitoris. She was amazed at how hard he was.

"Ok, Diaval, push in," she said.

He moved his hands to the sides of her hips and gently pulled her towards him as she pushed forward. The feeling was very different as he entered her in the water. Her eyes widened as she looked into his. She pulled back and as he did so, a suction feeling took place and she could feel the cool water rush inside of her.

"Oooooo!"

"Are you ok?"

"Oh, yes!" she exclaimed passionately. "Go on."

When he pushed back in, she could feel the water being pushed back out. The feeling was very erotic.

"Oh!" Maleficent reacted as he pushed himself farther in this time.

"Ahhhhhhh," Diaval called out.

After a few slow but breathtaking undulations from their bodies, Maleficent asked Diaval, "Can you go faster?"

"A little bit more, but it is very hard to move in the water. I do admit this does feel weird, but good at the same time."

"Oh, it's erotic!" she exclaimed while grabbing his buttocks harder and assisting in pushing together. "This feels so great!" Maleficent closed her eyes and she began to breath harder.

Diaval did try to move faster, but the water's resistance would only allow him to move so fast.

"I think this is the best I am going to do in water this deep," Diaval said apologetically.

"It's fine, honey. Don't worry, I will climax. I can already feel it building up."

"Yes, I can feel it within me too. So soon, this might be short."

"That's fine Diaval, it's Ok."

Maleficent then felt Diaval move his arms under hears and pull her away from the rock. He rested his hands on her shoulder blades, splaying his fingers out. He pulled her towards him as he pushed forward.

"I want to try to synchonize our climaxes like we did before," Diaval said between heavy breaths.

"Yes, I would like that very much," Maleficent said, also breathing heavy.

After a couple dozen more hard pushes. Maleficent's breathing became so heavy, she started to pant on the last few pushes.

Diaval noticed and he asked, "Are you ready to climax, my dear? I am getting close."

"Almost!" she blurted out. She closed her eyes tightly as she could feel the tingling sensation build and build.

Diaval moved his hands to her shoulders and he held on tightly. Maleficent dug her fingernails into his buttocks. As she did so, she could feel Diaval get extremely hard. Her eyes and mouth flew open and her eyes met his.

"I can't hold it back, my love,"

"Go...Go ahead, I am there too, I am right on the edge you will push me over."

Diaval closed his eyes and she could feel his grip on her shoulders get tighter. He gave one good thrust and she could feel him reach her extreme and she could feel the release of a warm fluild inside of her.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" she called out loudly, "Ahhhhh. Ahhhhhh."

Diaval grunted deeply as he thrust himself a couple more times deep into her reaching her extreme each time.

"Uh...Uh...Uh!" he grunted.

"Ooooooooo!" Maleficent exclaimed as she could feel the contractions of her climax grip tightly around her partner.

"I can feel it. I can feel you pulling. Oh, it's fantastic," Diaval panted.

"Yes! Oh yes! Wonderful!" Maleficent called out, also trying to catch her breath.

After a few more undulations, the two stopped moving and just embraced. After a few more moments, Diaval started to pull out.

"No! No! Please don't pull out yet," Maleficent said as she shook her head.

"Ok, I won't. Oh, Yes...I can still feel you."

"Uh huh. I am still going."

"Only once this time?"

"Yes, but it's powerful. It's a very strong climax. The feeling is staying with me."

She put her head on his shoulder and he did the same as they stood in the water. Maleficent felt a couple sort pulses run down the length of Diaval's penis.

"Oh My! You are still going too?" Maleficent asked.

"Just a twitch perhaps," Diaval answered.

"It's wonderful having you inside of me."

"Yes, It's the closeness. The intimacy. This is the closest I can ever get to you," Diaval explained. "I must say that prior to today, I never thought we would be in an embrace like this. I never thought I would be inside of you. And yet, here we are...lovers."

"Yes, you can't get any closer than you are now...inside of me, I am enjoying this very much." Maleficent agreed. "Ok, I am good now, just pull out slowly."

Reluctantly, Diaval slowly and carefully withdrew from her body.

"Ooooooo," she moaned.

The two still embraced for a while with their heads on each other's shoulders.

Diaval spoke first, "The water sure does feel warm now that we been in it for a while."

"Yes, honey. But now the air outside will be very cold," Maleficent said in a concerned manner.

"It looks like we will have to make a dash for the towels and dry off quickly," Diaval said.

"That and I can warm up the rock where we will sleep."

"I don't know about you, but I am getting very hungry."

"Yes, I am too."

The two slowly broke their embrace but gave each other a small kiss. They made their way towards the lake bank trying to stay as low in the water as possible until they were laying on the bank with everything but their head submerged.

"Ok, lets go." Maleficent said.

The two got up and darted off to the stack of towels on the bank near the waterfall. Each grabbed one and rapidly began to dry themselves off.

"Oh darn, it's cold!" Diaval exclaimed. He could see goosebumps forming on Maleficent's arms. Even though he was cold, he ran around to the back of his lover, and proceeded to dry her back off.

"Thank you, honey," she said. When he was done, she did the same for him.

"And thanks to you, my dear," Diaval said.

Diaval looked at where the towels were and was surprised to see that underneath them were a pair of heavy garments. Diaval picked up the brown garments and one unraveled.

"Robes!" he shouted.

"What?" Maleficent looked surprised.

"Aurora provided us with robes and they are thick too!"

"Oh, thank you, Robin and Aurora!"

"I guess they did think of everything," Diaval said.

"That they certainly did," Maleficent agreed as she took one of the robes and quickly put it on. "Let's see what's in the food basket".

Diaval looked in the basket as Maleficent was tying the belt on her robe.

"Looks like a couple of oranges and Apples, lots of red grapes..."

"Ahhh, my favorite!" Maleficent interrupted as she walked over and joined Diaval in examining the evenings bounty. She popped a couple grapes in her mouth.

"Main course looks like some sort of food wrap," Diaval said.

"Hmmm. Aurora mentioned something about these. They made them at the castle the night of the treaty signing and she told me about them. She must have learned how to make them. They are supposed to be eaten warm. They have beans, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and some other condiments inside that I don't recall."

"Sounds delicious," Diaval said.

"Well, lets find out."

The two gathered everything up by the waterfall and brought it back over to the rock where they were sleeping earlier. There was a small rock buried in the bank in the area in front of the fence and Maleficent layed the wraps on the rock. She raised both her hands and wiggled her fingers and heated up the rock to the point where steam was coming from the wraps.

"Give it a few minutes for the heat to settle in."

"Ok, my dear," Diaval answered as he scrounged down to the bottom of the basket and found two glasses and a flask wrapped up in a towel. He opened up the flask and gave it a sniff."

"What is that, honey?"

"Smells fruity."

He poured some in a one glass and gave it a taste.

"Well?"

"It tastes like some sort of fruit punch."

"Sounds nice. Come, bring it on over, please. I'm thirsty."

Diaval poured the punch into the two glasses and brought them over. He brought over a few more candles and set them around the small rock and lit them.

"You love your candles, huh?" Maleficent asked.

"Yes, and we DO have to see what we are eating," Diaval added.

Maleficent laughed as she popped another grape in her mouth.

"Besides, candles are nice to cuddle up to," he added.

"Well, you certainly are the romanic one, huh?" Maleficent asked.

"Yes, indeed, my love."

The two sat down in front of the small rock and each grabbed one of the wraps. They looked at one another and smiled.

"I guess this is our first romantic dinner together," Maleficent said.

They crisscrossed hands and Diaval took a bite from Maleficent's wrap and vice versa.

"Oh, wow, these ARE good!" Diaval exclaimed with his mouth full.

Maleficent opted to finish what was in her mouth and she swallowed hard and agreed, "Yes, they certainly are."

They continued to refect on the day as they ate their dinner and then they had some grapes for their dessert. Diaval was putting grapes near Maleficent's mouth and she was seductively taking them from his fingers with her mouth. The manner in which she artfully grasped the grapes with her ruby lips began to make Diaval excited and he felt a strong urge to kiss her.

"You know if you keep this up, we are going to end up going for round 3." Diaval said.

"And is that a bad thing?" Maleficent said coyishly.

"Oh, no, my dear. Never."

"Good! After dinner then," Maleficent had an ear to ear smile. "I don't know what it is, but I just can't get enough of you."

"Perhaps it is because we already had feelings for each other but we were denying our love for each other and now today when it all comes out, we just want each other," Diaval tried to explain.

"Perhaps because it is the way you touch me and are so gentle with me. How gentle you are when you are inside of me. You look out for me more than yourself. I just didn't know that THIS is what loving someone is really like. You really do make me feel like a queen." Maleficent said as she pointed to everything around them including themselves. "I thought what I had with that rotten scoundrel was true love and as it turns out, that was nothing. I really just don't know what true love is really about. It took yourself and Aurora to set me straight."

"My dear, I think you always had it in you. It was that bastard, Stefan, that didn't know what true love is and he lead you to believe otherwise, by sending you down a dark path.

"You know you are right! You were always very bright. I know that I call you naïve, where as I am very young for a faerie and naïve myself...especially when it comes to love."

"Well, from what I have seen today, you are certainly headed down the RIGHT path to love this time around." Diaval said as he got up and headed to the bed.

"Oh, before you hop in, let me warm up the rock for us. A rock that size will keep us warm for a long time."

Diaval smiled as Maleficent place her hands on the rock and once again the orange whispy glow eminated from her fingers. The rock was large and it took a while to get the rock warmed up. Diaval just watched in amazement.

"There, that should last us a good portion of the night, but we should cover ourselves up really well too. I think we are in for a really cold night. I am getting cold even in these heavy robes," Malficent said.

"Yes, we should have done this in summer, not autumn," Diaval commented in jest. "Well we know what to do if it gets too cool." Diaval smiled as he jokingly pivoted his waist indicating that they could make love to keep warm.

"THAT, my honey, will probably happen anyway," she said matter-of-factly. "Come, let's cuddle up."

The two got out of their robes and let them fall to the ground. Then they climbed into bed and wrapped their arms around each other and shared a few kisses. The kisses evolved into heavy body rubbing and eventually the two of them made love again that evening before becoming totally exhausted and collapsing in each other's arms facing each other.

Maleficent let out a heavy sigh and buried her face into Diaval's left shoulder. She placed her hand on his opposite shoulder and gently pushed him on to his back. She lifted her head up for a short while smiling at Diaval with a tear running down her eye.

"Oh, sweetheart. There are no need for tears anymore. Not when you are with me."

Maleficent smiled as Diaval wiped her single tear away. She laid down partially on top of him with her leg draped over his legs and her head still rested on his left shoulder. He draped his left arm over her back and rubbed the sweet spot on her back very gently.

"Oh, that feels so nice, you are going to put me to sleep," Maleficent practically whispered.

"Then sleep, my love, we both are tired, it was a nice long day," Diaval said with his speech now slurring.

"I love you my dear," he said softly his eyes getting heavy.

"I love you too, my honey," she said and then drifted off to sleep.

Maleficent's heavy breathing told Diaval she was fast asleep and she was safe in his arms. With his right hand free, he pulled the covers over them both. The rock was cooling off and it was going to be a cold night. But luckily their embrace under the heavy covers would keep them warm for the night.

The next morning Diaval awoke with the rays of the sun breaking through over the top of the waterfall. The air felt much warmer than it was the prior night. But Diaval noticed that his lover was not in the bed with him and she was gone. He looked around and she wasn't near the large rock.

"Maleficent!" he called out in a worried voice.

"I am out here, honey," she answered he voice coming from the other side of the fence. "I'm making some breakfast for us."

Diaval sat up and then Maleficent walked in from behind the other side of the fence. She was wearing the same green summer dress that she wore on that very hot day.

He looked her up and down and said, "I hope you enjoy making love in the morning. That'll probably happen with you wearing _that_ dress."

"That so? You really like this dress, huh?"

"Yes, very much," Dival answered. "I should have known Aurora would pack up some rather 'revealing' outfit for you."

Maleficent smiled and raised her eyebrows. "Well, here are your clothes, and yes, this is my favorite as well," she said.

Diaval took a quick look at the outfit and it was the one that was totally open from his neck down to his abdomen. Malficent just looked at the outfit and then at Diaval. She raised her eyebrows and just smiled.

"Breakfast is almost ready," Maleficent said as she held her hands in front of her, fingers meshed. The sleeves hanging from her elbows.

Diaval looked at her as the rays of the sun fell over her. She certainly was a beautiful site.

"Almost ready?," he questioned as he started to get dressed. "Are you cooking something?"

"Uh, huh," Maleficent answered seductively as she took a good look at his naked body as she slowly turned and left the sleeping area.

Diaval finished getting dressed and then joined Maleficent out by the same rock that they had dinner by the night before. He sat down beside her. She was using her magic to warm up the rock some more.

"Smells good! What is it?"

"Potato and vegetable hash."

"Whoa! What's the occasion?"

Maleficent dipped her head and looked at Diaval with narrow eyes, "Do you really need to ask?"

Diaval just busted out laughing. Maleficent just grinned.

"Come now, before it gets cold."

She served her 'potato and vegatable hash' on an edible leaf that grew nearby. She picked up a serving for herself as well.

Diaval took a bite.

"Mmmmm. This is good," he mumbled through is full mouth. After he swallowed he said, "Where did you get the stuff to make this?"

"Glad you like it, and I got it from the garden near the Rowan tree. It is not that far a walk from here you know."

"Ahhh, Yes," Diaval nodded. "Did you check on Aurora and Robin? They said they were spending the night there."

"No. I just wanted to get back here with you before you woke up and noticed I was missing. I didn't want to worry you."

"Yes, I might have been worried if you weren't here."

"Besides, I wanted to surprise you with breakfast."

"Thank you, my dear."

"Oh, you are very welcome."

"Maleficent?"

"Yes, Diaval?"

"I am going to be looking at living with you in a totally different light now. I am assuming we are going to sleep together all the time now?"

"Of course. I want you next to me when we sleep. No more separate nest for you. You will sleep with me from now on," she informed Diaval between bites.

"Are we also going to prepare meals for each other on a regular basis like this?"

"Yes, Diaval, every day we will have our meals together," Maleficent answered a bit puzzled.

"I think I am really going to enjoy life so much now!" Diaval exclaimed. He reached over and put his arms around Maleficent almost knocking her over.

"Oh! Diaval!"

She wrapped her arms around him and the two ended up laying down on the bank and she rolled over on top of him. They smiled at one another and then slowly engaged in a deep kiss.

"Oh! By the way. Good morning, my dear!" Diaval exlaimed

"And a good morning to you, honey!" Maleficent responded.

After their kiss, Maleficent and Diaval made love once more and then cleaned themselves up before packing everything up and headed back home. Maleficent picked some white flowers she found on the river bank and she attached them to her horns and used a vine to make a circlet around her head. She placed a single white flower in a fold in Diaval's shirt, by his chest.

"There, now we are ready to go," Maleficent said. "It is getting late and I don't want Robin to start looking for us."

Diaval looked at his lover and she had an aura about her and she looked extremely beautiful in the sun.

"You do look fabulous, my dear."

"Thank you, you look rather nice yourself."

Diaval rested his hand on Maleficent's bare lower back. Maleficent had her arm around his back with her hand resting on his shoulder. They carried the items they packed up in their free hands.

They looked back one more time at their bathing spot for they would always remember that it was the spot where they first became intimate with each other.

"I still can't believe it that we are actually lovers now," Diaval said.

"I know, it just seemed to happen so suddenly," Maleficent said, "It was just yesterday at this time, I was racked with emotion at the thought of letting you go. But I wanted to do the right thing."

"I think I would have never left. I would have circled and circled over the Moors constantly watching you. I didn't want to look for a mate when I already chosen you," Diaval explained.

The two smiled and pulled each other close. Soon they reached the hill that lead up to the Rowan Tree. Aurora was outside relaxing in the grass on the hill. As soon as she caught sight of Maleficent and Diaval returning, she jumped up and ran inside Malefient's home.

They could hear Aurora calling for Robin, "Robin, Robin, they are back!"

The two came back out of the house with large smiles on their face.

Diaval stood up straighter and pushed his shoulders back and he pulled Maleficent closer to his body his fingers gently splaying on the side of her midsection. He had a proud look on his face. Maleficent also had a serene and fullfilled look on her face. She liked the way Diaval was holding her and she too tightened her grip on Diaval's shoulder.

"My my, you two are practically glowing! I love the flowers you put in your hair and on your horns" Aurora exclaimed, "Oh! let me take those things from you."

"Yes, you both are very radiant!" Robin added. "I take it you both had a great night!"

Diaval and Maleficent both nodded, "Yes."

Aurora at first went to take the items Maleficent was carrying, but then suddenly changed direction and wrapped her arms around her Godmother's neck.

"You both look so very happy," she said as she gave Maleficent a kiss on the cheek. She then transferred her arms to Diaval and gave him a hug and kiss too.

Diaval answered as Aurora took the items from Maleficent, "Yes, we are very happy. We had a wonderful night together and the both of us want to thank you and Robin for making the area so nice and romantic for us."

"Yes, Aurora, indeed, many thanks to you and Robin for such a nice evening."

"I very much enjoyed those wraps you made," Diaval added.

"You're Welcome, but you are forgetting someone. Prince Philip also helped us out, especially when it came to making that fence around the rock.

Both Maleficent and Diaval had a surprised look on their face.

"Oh, well, then we will thank him when we will see him the next time," Maleficent said.

"Well," Robin said as he raised his hands. "Let's go inside and relax for a bit, perhaps you can tell us about your night." He raised his eyebrows and then flew ahead with Aurora running in pursuit.

Maleficent and Diaval trailed a bit behind and moved slowly to the Rowan Tree.

Maleficent's wiped the smile off her face and her eyes widened as she turned to Diaval and whispered in his ear, "What we shared was private."

Diaval whispered back, "Just tell them we had a good night together then and appreciate what they did for us."

"He will not just stop there, you know Robin," Maleficent said.

"All too well."

Maleficent and Diaval just gave a generalization of what went on the night before. Surprisingly, neither Robin, nor Aurora brought up anything about intimacy, but after a while Robin suggested that they pair off as he wanted to 'stretch his wings' and wanted to head down to the river bank just at the base of the hill with Diaval.

Maleficent had a keen look in her eye and thought to herself, 'So that is when he is going to pop the intimate questions, alone with Diaval. I bet Aurora is going to do the same with me. I just hope Diaval doesn't tell him too much.'

"Four Times!' Robin exclaimed, "You two did it four times!"

"Yes!" Diaval replied excitedly.

"Wow! You two are love machines!" Robin said surprised. "I kind of figured you might since I knew you are a gentleman and know how to treat a lady. But her? No way. Never."

"It was very mutual though. I wanted her and she wanted me. I just enjoyed it and she enjoyed it too," Diaval tried to explain. "It was just that something clicked and if we looked at one another a certain way, we just locked bodies and became intimate."

"Oh, I envy you," Robin shook his head. "Not even I got up to four times on my first night with any woman. I did get up to three and I ended up marrying her."

"Robin, you rarely mention your wife. I would like to know what happened to her.

"I was afraid sooner or later you were going to ask that. Well, I guess I can tell you a bit more about her," Robin reluctantly said. "I was with my wife for a long time, but as with Lysander and Hermia, she died in that battle. My wife couldn't sit still, she had to join in the battle despite my urges and pleads for her to stay behind. She was the head healer, but even so, she was a warrior at heart. She wanted to be out there..." Robin paused and then hung his head low and he started to become upset. He then looked up and said, "Diaval, let's discuss this another time."

"But you just started," Diaval said with a puzzled tone in his voice.

"I know, but right now this is a happy moment for you and I don't want to bring your moment down."

"Ok, but could you at least tell me what your wife's name was?" Diaval asked.

"Fair enough, her name was Naterie," he answered with his head still low. "And yes, she was very beautiful, as much so as our Maleficent."

"Can you tell me what she looked like?"

Robin paused and tears began to well up in his eyes, "Diaval...please, not now."

"Oh, I am sorry Robin," Diaval said, "...on both counts of prying and also offering my condolences."

"That is ok, Diaval, and thank you." Robin paused for a long time.

Diaval rested two of his fingers on Robin's back in reassurance. Robin looked up and then smiled.

"Ok, then, let's get back on track with Maleficent and you," Robin shifted the discussion back. "How was she?"

Diaval became wide eyed and then asked, "How do you mean?"

"Well, you know," Robin answered while pivoting his waist.

"Oh! Robin, I should have known that was coming. That's private, and besides, Maleficent would have my head if I told you." Diaval scolded Robin. But then he saw that Robin wiped the smile back off his face and started to look down again.

"Oh, Ok. She was spectacular! I never felt anything like that in my entire life."

"Yes! Yes, making love _is_ something very spectacular. I had a funny feeling she would have been good to you. She is a very special lady," Robin paused again, but then continued but in a bit more of a stern voice, "I sure hope you took care of her as well and that her night was special."

"Absolutely. What would you make you think otherwise?"

"I don't know, In fact I don't know why I said that. I should know better that you would have treated her well," Robin said. "I guess I am still over protective of 'my little lady'."

"Understood. Well, she did say I made her feel like a queen."

"Ahhhhh, that is reassuring," Robin smiled.

Robin then narrowed his eyes and tried to compose himself for the next question, but he couldn't get it out.

"What is it Robin?" Diaval asked, "It looks like you are trying to say something."

"Yeah...Well, I am curious. Did you go down on her?"

Diaval gave Robin a bewildered look.

"You know; mow the lawn, munch the carpet?"

Diaval looked even more puzzled, narrowing his eyes. He grabbed his drink that was sitting nearby and took a sip.

Robin rolled his eyes. "Ok, bluntly then. Did you stick your tongue in her vagina?" Robin said blatantly.

Diaval spat out what he was drinking and then he began to cough.

Robin flew over to Diaval's back and slapped him between the shoulder blades a couple times, "Whoa, easy there, are you OK? Sorry about that."

When Diaval came to he said to Robin in a shocked tone, "I beg your pardon, you mean make love to her using my mouth?"

"YES!" Robin yelled out as he sat back down on the rock next to Diaval.

"No...the thought hadn't crossed me at all. Is that something you supposed to do?"

Robin held his head in his hands and shook his head.

"Oh, Diaval, Diaval. As Maleficent always says, you ARE Naive. But this is bad! Listen...If you REALLY want to make her see stars you have to go down on her and stimulate her properly."

"She seemed fine though with the way we made love...all four times of it."

"Trust me Diaval, you think she is great now, WAIT until you do some serious carpet munching. Besides, it is so great to have your head between her legs. You are going to love it too."

"I am assuming this was something you did with Naterie?" Diaval asked.

"All the time! She even asked for it," Robin recalled. "Make sure you down on me, Robin. Make sure you trim my bush good."

Diaval busted out laughing saying, "She really said that?"

"More or less," Robin said. "But I can assure you, she will see stars and will always be ready for you."

Diaval looked out on to the water and nodded in approval, but was still unsure about the idea.

"I do admit, I like the idea of those long beautiful legs of hers running over my shoulders."

"Now your thinking!" Robin said happily as he flew up to Diaval's face.

"Let's see what the women are up as I heard Maleficent say something about making lunch."

Meanwhile at the Rowan Tree, Aurora was showing Maleficent how to make the wraps they had the night before for dinner. They were preparing some for lunch for themselves and the guys. They started to talk about other things once Maleficent got the hang of making the wraps. At first it was mostly coronation stuff and how beautiful the ceremony was the prior day, but then the conversation shifted.

"Faerie Godmother?"

"Yes, Beastie?"

"I would like to know how last night went?"

"No, that is private, only between Diaval and myself."

"Oh please, Godmother, please. I will not tell anyone."

"Uh huh," Maleficent said not reassured, "I know first thing you would do is run off and tell Robin."

"No I will not, Please tell me."

"Aurora, I said no and that is final!" Maleficent said sternly as she was wringing her hands together nervously and then she started to stare off into other corners of the room. A little smile came on her face as for some reason she wanted to share at least a little bit of her experience with Aurora.

Aurora rested her hands on the table and place her head on her hands and she started to pout.

Maleficent looked at her and shook her head, "Ok, Ok! If you must know, he was fantastic," she said and then added with a sigh "...He made the earth move beneath my feet."

Aurora jumped up excitedly and knocked the chair over behind her, "Oh, I knew it! He is just such a gentleman, I knew he would be good to you and treat you right."

"Yes, he did everything and anything to make sure I was happy."

"Oh, I am so happy for you, Godmother," Aurora exclaimed as she ran over to Maleficent and threw her arms around her and gave her a tight hug.

"Beastie! You are hugging me too tight, I need to breath!" Maleficent gasped.

"Oh, I'm sorry Godmother, I am just very excited for you."

"Yes, I can see that," Maleficent said between a couple deep breaths.

"Can you give me some details?"

"As in what?"

"Well, how many orgasms did you have?"

"Aurora! That is private!"

Aurora proceeded to pout again. Maleficent narrowed her eyes and gave Aurora a searing look.

"Will you leave me alone about last night if I tell you?"

Again Aurora perked up, "Yes! Yes!"

Maleficent was hesitant to say, but then blurted out, "I don't know, I lost count. We made love four times and..."

"FOUR TIMES! That's amazing!"

Maleficent said, "Ok, Ok. That's it, I already said too much."

Aurora picked up the chair and then sat down quietly with a grin on her face as she looked at her godmother.

"What now?" Maleficent asked.

"Was he very romantic?"

Maleficent suddenly had a calm look on her face as she gave in to Aurora's persistance. She replied, "Yes, he was _very_ romantic."

Aurora giggled and once again said, "I am so happy for you."

"Thank you."

Again there was that long quiet pause.

"No. No more Aurora. I told you too much already."

"Alright, but we are not finished with this conversation, I would like to know more details," Aurora urged.

"Yes, young lady, we _are _finished."

"Ok," Aurora got up and then started to walk outside and then she looked over her shoulder and added, "For now."

Maleficent was about to reply to her remark, but then Aurora darted off outside. She was only out for a few seconds before she darted right back in the door.

"The guys are coming back up the hill," she informed Maleficent.

"Well, then, it is time for lunch,"

Aurora shot back out the door to meet the guys. The three them went into the Rowan tree. Diaval got a chair from the next room and he sat down with Aurora. Robin moved the sugar box from the center of the table to the edge of the remaining open side of the table and sat on that. Maleficent heated up her cooking slate stone and prepared the wraps for everyone.

Diaval looked over and noticed it was the very same wrap that Maleficent and he had last night.

"Oh, so you know how to make them now?"

"Yes, Aurora showed me how to make them."

"Great!" Diaval exclaimed, "Oh, Aurora, I want to thank you personally for making those, they were great."

"Well, I am glad you enjoyed them," Aurora said.

Robin had an ear to ear grin on his face and everyone noticed.

Maleficent's eyes narrowed and she said sternly, "Robin, you are up to something, what is on your mind."

"As you know, the place you were last night was mostly Aurora's idea," he said still grinning.

"And," Everyone else said.

"Well, I happened to pick out a nice romantic spot for you two as well."

"Yes," Aurora added, "And whenever you two are ready we will get it set up for you."

Diaval answered, "That is sweet of the both of you, I certainly will be looking forward to it. How about you, dear?"

"Yes, honey, as do I," Maleficent answered.

"_Dear!" _"_Honey!" _both Aurora and Robin said together.


	16. Chapter 16: Fashion Glitz Ballroom Blitz

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 16: Fashion Glitz, Ballroom Blitz

"Shhhhhh Robin!" Aurora said as Robin came to greet her in a rather loud manner, as he approached her hiding in a smaller tree next to the Rowan Tree."

"Why on earth are you hiding up here?" Robin whispered in a puzzled tone.

Aurora nodded up to the Rowan Tree.

Robin looked over and could hear faint moans and groans mixed in with some 'ooos and ahhs'. Robin turned back to Aurora

"They are at it _again?!_" Robin shook his head. "That has to be the 10th time this week!"

Aurora just giggled and then said, "So, you are not going to stop me from listening?"

"Nope! In fact I am going to join you."

Aurora smiled as Robin took up perch on a branch near Aurora's face. She was trying to stifle her laughing, but Robin's continued joking wasn't helping any.

"I can't believe either one or both aren't sore by now."

Aurora giggled even louder and quickly she put her hand over her mouth as she didn't want Maleficent or Diaval to hear. In addition to the moaning there was also a sound of furnature being moved and something breakable crashed to the floor.

"Oooo, Aggressive...Arn't they!," Robin giggled.

Aurora still had her hand over her mouth.

Then there was a distinct thud as if something heavy hit the floor.

"Oh, someone must have fell out of the bed."

Aurora was turning red trying to stifle her laughing.

Then Aurora could hear a woman's moan steadily increase in volume and intensity.

"Uh, Uh, Uh, Uh! Oh! UH! Ohhhhhhhh! Faster Diaval Faster!"

Now Robin was the one covering his mouth trying not to laugh too loud.

Aurora slipped a little bit and almost fell out of the tree.

"I don't think I can handle this anymore. Either I am going end up bursting from holding back my laughter or I am going to fall out of this tree," Aurora whispered to Robin.

"I know, I know. I know what you mean. I just can't believe she's _so_ vocal."

Just then a deeper moan eminated from the room.

"Not bad! I believe Diaval's doing very well himself," Robin said. "Oh, how I envy them. I miss having sex so much!"

There were several repeated low thumps and then suddenly a pair of curved horns came right through the wall.

"Are you OK?" Robin could hear Diaval say.

"Yes, yes. Just keep pushing, my love, push harder!"

With that Robin put both hands over his mouth and practically doubled over in laughter falling off the branch he was sitting on. But he just took to wing and sat himself back down on the branch.

Aurora turned and laughed very hard into her shoulder. Keeping herself balanced in the tree was becoming difficult and she had to hold on with two hands.

Meanwhile in topmost room of the Rowan tree...

Maleficent was lying nude in the bed on her stomach with her legs folded and partly under her. Her head was tilted to one side a bit, but she couldn't move it because her horns were through the wall. Diaval was on top of her and he was also naked. The two were at the pinnacle of making love with Diaval holding on to Maleficent's back and rapidly pivoting his waist into her from behind.

"Push harder, Diaval. You have a good spot, I am almost ready."

"My dear, I am not sure if I can hold out any longer. I can feel it building up.

"Then go ahead, you already made me climax three times. It's your turn now, come now. You always get really hard before you climax inside of me, I am sure you will push me over the edge. "

"Ok, then."

Diaval slowed down but lengthened his drive and went in deep.

"Oh, my word! Yes!" Maleficent gasped as she reached out and grabbed a hold of two supports one on each side of the back of the bed.

Diaval focused on her outstretched arms and could clearly see her arm muscles flexing as her grasp on the supports became tighter.

He slowly increased speed a bit, but keeping the drives long. He leaned forward and ran his hands up her back and out to her shoulders and then down to the middle of her upper arms. He could feel her biceps and triceps flexing as she started to pull on the supports harder. The veins on her forearms were bulging. The supports Maleficent was holding on to were beginning to creak and groan slightly, but Diaval had other things on his mind as he was on the cusp of climaxing. Feeling Maleficent's arm muscles flexing under his hands was all he could stand. He could feel himself get very hard as his fluids built up to an immense pressure. Fianally, he climaxed. He could feel the fluids rush through his penis and he ejaculated directly into the back of her vagina.

The sudden sensation did cause Maleficent to climax at the same time and she completely tensed up.

"Uuuuuugghhhhhhaahhhhhhhh," She let out a loud moan.

Diaval could feel her tighten up around him. Her body shuddered.

Again another pulse rippled down his penis, "Oh, yeah" he called out.

"Oooooooooooooo, Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" she exclaimed.

"Hummmmmmmmmmmmm!" he moaned.

Maleficent's hands grabbed the supports even tighter. There was a slight sound of splintering wood and then the supports gave way. Diaval was shocked to see part of the roof coming down on top of them. He put his arms up to avoid having the roof hit Maleficent, but luckily the main support came down next to them on the bed and they were kept safe.

Back outside, the sight of part of the roof collapsing in on itself was too much to handle, both Aurora and Robin burst out laughing.

"Oh ho ho hoooo, Ahhh Hah Hah Hah Hahhhhh!"

It was just too loud of a laughter not to get noticed.

"Robin! Aurora!" bellowed Maleficent. "I can hear you out there."

"Robin, really? Can we have some privacy?" Diaval shouted.

Robin turned to Aurora, "I think you better get down and make yourself scarce."

"I agree," Aurora replied as she started to climb down the tree.

"I am going to stay behind a bit to make sure they are OK."

"Alright"

"I will talk to you later on at the castle."

As Robin began to approach the collapsed roof of the bedroom, he saw a yellow glow and the roof began to rise up to it's original position.

"Whoa," Robin said softly to himself. "Well, I guess she is OK." He hid in a nearby branch in the Rowen Tree. He heard murmurs of two voices as it appeared that Diaval was OK as well, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure, so he stuck around a bit.

Inside the bedroom, Maleficent was just finishing up with mending the supports that broke.

"You were lucky the roof support didn't slam down on your back," Maleficent said.

"Yeah, I didn't think that would happen, but then again with your strength I should have known."

Maleficent giggled a bit and then apologized, "I am so sorry, Diaval. I tried not to pull so hard on the supports, but it is just in a fit of ecstacy, I could feel every muscle in my body tense up when you came inside of me. It just felt so good."

"Well, the main thing is you are not hurt, my love."

"Yes, but that was a close call." Maleficent said as she was looking around extending her bare arms and yellow whisps came from her fingertips as she repaired any cracks she saw in the roof.

Diaval reached from behind her and began massaging her breasts. She could feel his chest press right up in to the stumps on her back. At first she just closed her eyes and took in the feeling. She even fluttered her stumps a bit tickling Diaval's chest. After just making love, she was still very much aroused and wanted to continue, but she couldn't stop thinking if Robin or Aurora might still be outside listening in.

"No, Diaval, I think they might still be out there. The nerve of them listening in to us as we were making love," she said softly at first but then raised her voice loud enough so it could be heard outside, "Wait until I get my hands on you Robin!"

Outside Robin heard Maleficent clearly and cringed. He decided they were fine and took off.

Maleficent grabbed for her robe and began putting it on. Diaval also began to put his clothes on and he said, "Maleficent, dear, not today, it's Aurora's Coronation Ball. If you would like I can have a talk with him later on as you are right he shouldn't have been listening in on us."

"Oh, Alright!" Maleficent sounded angry as she gave in.

"Promise?"

"Yes!" she said in an annoyed tone.

All four shared breakfast together. Diaval had a long talk with Robin and Aurora about privacy. Maleficent just sat with her arms crossed across her chest having an annoyed look on her face the whole time.

Afer all was said and done they saddled up Diaval for a nice long dragon ride circling over both kingdoms. When Diaval was tired, they headed to the castle.

Upon arriving at the castle, they found it was bustling with activity. Most of the repairs and renovations have been completed to the castle with only work needed to rebuild the tower, the terrace and some finishing touches to the main hall as those where the areas that were most heavily damaged. Even though the ballroom remained intact, it too received a nice finishing treatment to prepare for the gala event.

Maleficent and Aurora spent most of their time at the castle that week supervising how the ballroom is going to look. Given that autumn was well underway and the leaves had changed color around the castle, the two agreed that a fall theme for the ball was in order.

Due to King Stefan's 'selling out' for iron, there was little in terms of curtains and linens. The current décor in the ballroom was severely outdated. Since Queen Aurora and Maleficent were becoming quite proficient at designing dresses, why not design the entire ballroom linens? And that is what they did. All new linens were designed in festive fall colors: Golds, deep reds, oranges, ambers, and browns.

Surprisingly, Prince Philip's father, King John from the nearby hamlet of Ulstead was a big help in supplying the linens needed. He was very excited in a possible trade relationship between his kingdom and Aurora's in the near future. He had access to special rare linens that came from far away places.

When it was all done Maleficent and Aurora were invited into the ballroom for a look before the event. When they walked in, the first thing they noticed that the floor was redone. It was refinished and made lighter. The grains in the wood were easier to make out than before. The floor had a mirror shine to it. Maleficent even bent down to look at her reflection in the floor.

There were six long banquet tables laid out on each side of the ballroom and the center of the floor was was reserved for dancing. The tables were adorned with pumpkin colored table clothes and a red and gold floral patterned runner ran down the center. In the middle were long floral arrangments with pumpkins and seasonal flowers. Each place setting had white plates with red and gold trim. The napkins were brown and the utensils were all gold.

Hanging from the rafters of the vaulted ceiling were banners also in festive reds and golds. The red curtains covering the organ pipes remained, but they were cleaned. Festive banners hung between them adorned with pumpkin vines on an a gold background and the edges were red.

The thrones were at one end and were adorned in red and gold. Sir Joseph pointed out that Queen Aurora would be sitting in the center throne in the King's position and Maleficent would be sitting in the throne on the right in the Queen's position. The band would be playing in the back by the rear entrance.

"Has the organ been repaired?" Maleficent inquired.

"Sadly, no. We have been having trouble getting some of the parts in on time. But perhaps by the next ball," Sir Joseph answered.

"I see."

Aurora looked around and took everything in real hard. Her lips began to quiver and she placed her face in her hands and began to weep.

Sir Joseph said, "My Queen, is everything OK. Is something wrong." He handed her a hankerchief.

Maleficent put her arms around Aurora as she said, "No, it...it's absolutely beautiful. It has been such long and hard work and I didn't know what it would look like. It exceeds my expectations. It is just an amazing feeling that all of this was done just for me."

Sir Joseph breathed a sigh of relief, "I had my moments too when I first saw it completed. Both of you, your designing abilities are remarkable. This ballroom hasn't looked this grand since...well, I can't remember. It will be a grand evening, my queen, that is for sure."

He looked at the two royal figures embracing. After they pulled themselves apart, Sir Joseph looked to Maleficent and said, "Your excellency, you have changed so dramatically. You have made a complete turn around. This moment I am witnessing before me, I never thought would possibly happen."

"It is a strange turn of events isn't it," Maleficent agreed, "I ended up loving the very person I cursed. I ended up breaking that curse with my own love for her."

Sir Joseph said, "I thought you were incapable of love and was outraged that you had the audacity to curse Aurora. But she told me your story, it confirmed an earlier feeling I had when I first saw you with your wings," he suddenly paused as if he lost his train of thought. "I always knew there was something special about you, your excellency. You never did strike me as evil. I am happy to finally get to know you...the real you."

"Thank You, Sir Joseph. No, I never was an evil faerie, I was just bent on revenge. You too appear to be a distinguished gentleman and it is nice to know you as well. I do hope to meet others like yourself."

"That you will. But I best be off on my way, I have to stay on schedule so we can open up the ballroom on time."

"Very well, please don't let us detain you any further."

It was just a couple hours before the ball, Maleficent and Aurora were getting dressed in the Queen's lounge just outside the ballroom. The dress designing team of Maleficent and Aurora did it again. This time they made and tried out the dresses at the castle. There were better materials at hand, the rooms were larger and best of all, the castle had actual mirrors.

Maleficent never saw herself in a mirror wearing one of Aurora's dresses before. There was a full length mirror in the Queen's dressing room. Maleficent gasped when she looked in the mirror.

"That's me! Oh, Aurora, you out did yourself again! It's so beautiful and elegant! I feel so comfortable in this. I feel I could wear this for hours on end. It isn't flashy or overdone, either," Maleficent said as she kept turning and posing in front of the mirror.

"Oh, you are so stunning Godmother!" Aurora exlaimed excitedly, "Wow, you really look good!"

"Thank you, Beastie."

Maleficent's looked at herself in the mirror, she was wearing her hair up in a similar black headdress that she wore during Aurora's christening. A single silvery white stone hung from the widow's peak and rested on her forehead. The dress itself is what Aurora called a 'reverse-halter princess' style. It was very different from other dresses Aurora created, very modern for the time. The dress was all black and had a choker collar around the neck which supported the back of the dress. Looking from the front of the dress, her shoulders were completely exposed along with her arms. The bodice came to two shallow peaks above the breasts and then dipped down a bit in the middle just showing a hint of her cleavage. Above the bodice her chest area was exposed. The bodice and choker showcased Maleficent's prominent collarbones and shoulders. The choker was adorned with the silvery white stones from the Moor's reflecting pool. The stones also came down in a diamond pattern at the top most portion of the bodice between the breasts.

The dress had the appearance of black layered strips of material that criss crossed in a 'v' pattern downward from the mid section of the bodice. This continued a bit past her waist and stopped at just slightly past her hips with the final strips angling downward into the skirt section. The dress then flared out into a skirt that almost touched the floor in the front and slightly dragged a bit along the floor in the back. The front of the skirt had a special double pleat that allowed a larger walking stride. The pleat was embroidered on the sides and middle with a floral pattern.

Her back was completely covered with just the shoulders exposed. Since the material was a bit stretchy, Aurora had made similar embroidered pleats on the back in which the folds nicely concealed her stumps. The rear pleats ran down to the where the material continued it's criss cross pattern down the back.

She wasn't wearing any jewelry, with the exception of her favorite rings she wore on her horns. She purposely didn't want to up stage the queen.

Maleficent put her hand on her chest and looked down her arms.

Aurora noticed and said, "Please don't tell me it is too revealing. I really tried hard to follow your instructions on placing elegance above all else."

"Only a little, but don't worry you did fantastic! You _did_ create a beautiful dress. It does surpass my expectations. I am amazed at how elegant it is.

"Thank you Godmother, But if you still feel too 'exposed', I made these gloves for you," Aurora said.

"What? There's more?" Maleficent asked.

"Uh, huh. Aurora said as she passed the gloves to Maleficent."

Maleficent put on the gloves. They were black full length fingerless gloves made from a satin like material, but unlike satin the material could stretch quite a bit. The gloves were supported by the middle finger and opened up to a triangle shaped lace floral pattern on the back of the hand. They were solid the rest of the way up the arm. The fit was snug all the way up her forearms and the continued right up to the shoulder and terminated in a pointed hem that curved outward from the shoulder. They clung to every curve on Maleficent's arms with very little wrinkling and felt like a second skin. They didn't feel tight fitting at all even though they looked as such.

Maleficent kept looking at how the gloves hugged her arms.

"Oh, my word! Aurora, why have you kept these from me? They look _and_ feel great! This material is amazing."

"I designed the dress to be worn with just your bare arms."

"Aurora, these gloves make the dress so much more elegant. Plus I don't feel as exposed. Oh, you are so thoughtful to think of this. They are so light feeling and comfortable, I could wear these all night too!"

"Well, I figured I would make them just to be on the safe side in case you felt cold or...too exposed. But, I don't want you to wear the gloves all night."

"I love the fingerless design," Maleficent said as she splayed her fingers out and dipped her hand down so her skin showed through the floral pattern on the back of her hand.

"Ok, but please take them off halfway through the night."

"Alright, I will."

As Maleficent put her hands on her hips she noticed how the dress accented her hips. She said, "I don't recall myself _this_ curvy around the hips. I like it."

"Well, you always told me that you felt you were too svelt. So this type of dress goes very well with tall women with a small waist as it accents your curves. " Aurora paused. "Do you think it will drive Diaval up the wall?"

Maleficent eyes widened as she turned to Aurora and stifled a giggle. Aurora burst out laughing.

"I believe it will," she finally answered.

"He will probably make some nice use of that slit in the front then, huh?"

"What slit?" Maleficent looked suddenly surprised.

"The front two pleats, the middle section has small hooks that can be undone on the top middle and bottom. It then unfolds and you will have a slit that runs from this point down to the floor," she said pointing to the junction where the pleats start and then following it down to it's end."

"Let me guess, access?" Maleficent smiled knowing by now Aurora's intentions.

Aurora giggled, "Well, I mainly thought of it in the event you are feeling sexy and want to show Diaval a little leg. But yes, it's also for access. All you have to do is undo the slit, pull down your undergarment and Diaval has full access. Perfect for a quicky when in need."

Maleficent's eye's widened. "Aurora! I am amazed at how you think of these things at such a young age."

"Well, like I said, I do think of your happiness. What if you get the 'urge' when you are wearing this dress? Without that slit you would have to either take the whole thing off or uncomfortably bunch the skirt part up. With this you can just undo the clips and part the skirt to the side."

Maleficent raised her eyebrows. "Ok, your thoughtfulness is appreciated. However, I seriously doubt I would need it and it would save you all that work."

Aurora hung her head low.

Maleficent thought about what she said and said, "I'm sorry Aurora, I know your intentions are good and you mean well."

Aurora's face brightened back up and said, "Believe it or not, I got the idea from the first riding dress you made. The one with the slit down the side. I just came up with a concealed way to keep the slit closed."

"Really? I must say it is a very ingenious. I am impressed with the idea alone."

"Thank you, godmother. Now, when you walk in this type of dress, it is better to walk with one foot directly in front of the other."

Maleficent just naturally put her hands on her hips and she walked as Aurora instructed, back and then towards the mirror. She noticed she picked up a rather pronounced sway in her hips. "Oh, my Beastie, I think walking that way would certainly push Diaval over the edge, or for that matter giving the human men a wrong impression."

Aurora giggled and then said, "I know you said formal and elegant, but I did want you look attractive and at least a little bit sexy too. You can't look like a nun you know."

The two laughed

"No I suppose not, but Aurora, you are supposed to be the standout this evening, not me. I have a tendency to attract enough attention with these," Maleficent said pointing to her horns.

Aurora hung her head down. "I hope you are not disappointed in any way."

"Oh, no, absolutely not! I am sorry, I didn't mean to sound disappointed. I am very pleased with the dress," Maleficent paused and walked a bit more, but normally. She put her arms on her hips and arched her back sideways a bit as she turned to the mirror. Then she tried out Aurora's suggestion of walking swinging her arms more. She realized how easy it was just by moving a certain way how the dress could be interpreted as both elegant and sexy. Then a feeling came over Maleficent that she admitted to herself she looked great. She raised her eyebrows a couple of times. All of sudden she could feel and see her face begin to flush. She instantly stopped and looked down.

"Godmother, you were posing! Awww AND you are also blushing?"

Malficent started to figit with her fingernails as she paused for a long time before answering.

"I was hoping you didn't catch that. But, the truth is, I _do_ feel beautiful and yes, even s..sexy in this dress." Maleficent had a hard time saying the 's' word. "It has been a long time since I really felt this elegant. The gloves just add that much more to the dress. So, you did a wonderful job, Beastie, and thank you."

With that Aurora jumped up with a beaming smile on her face. She ran into Maleficent, nearly knocking her over. She wrapped her arms around her.

"Oh, my word, Beastie. You should warn me when you do that, so I can brace for impact."

Aurora didn't say anything as she placed her head on Maleficent's chest. The two stayed embraced for a while.

Aurora then lifted her head up, "My turn now?"

"Yes." After a long while Maleficent said worriedly, "Now I just hope I have done well enough for your dress."

"Oh, I am sure you have, Godmother."

"I don't know. Your skills just seem to be magically increasing with every dress you make. You are going to surpass my skills soon and I _can_ do magic."

"Nonsense. Guess who I get my inspirations from?"

Maleficent smiled, "You are too kind. Your dress is on the frame in the closet."

She saw Aurora run into closet. A couple seconds later she heard a short yelp and a loud thump. She jumped up and tried to run into the closet. She thought to herself, 'Well, I certainly cannot run that easy in this dress." She ran into the closet to find Aurora sitting on the floor staring at the dress.

"Are you OK? Did you trip?" Maleficent asked as she took Aurora's hand. "Did you see a mouse?"

"No, it's the dress you made, it is so beautiful. The colors are stunning."

"Why, thank you, Beastie. Well, why don't you put it on so I can get a good look at you. I will stay to help as it is a corset dress and I have to lace it up for you."

Aurora took the dress off the frame and she was amazed as when the dress moved, the colors changed. The dress was predominately red and gold. The bodice had a floral pattern and this came to a defined point on the lower midsection of the body. The skirt section appeared to be made of satin and looked either red or gold depending on it's angle to the light and it appeared to also have a train that trailed from the back.

"It changes color! How did you do that?" Aurora asked.

"It is a little trick I did with the fabric," Maleficent answered.

Once Aurora had the dress on she was looking in the mirror admiring the details on the dress while Maleficent laced up the dress. Little by little the dress conformed to Auroras shape. The dress was off the shoulder completely exposing Aurora's chest, back and shoulders. It had very short sleeves, but attached to the sleeves were very long see through chiffon lace bell sleeves. The lace was a deep rust color that matched the bodice of the dress. They covered the upper arm and then split at the elbow and flowed down to her calves. The trim was gold. From the bodice down to the floor the skirt fanned outward from Aurora's body. Aurora kept moving the skirt around to make it change in the light.

Maleficent pulled the skirt's train out to show Aurora. A floral pattern was embroidered into the train. She then waved her hand and with a whisp of green, Aurora's hair neatly tied itself up in a braided bun on the back of her head. Maleficent then placed a floral tiara on Aurora's head with flowers of red, amber and yellow. Finally with a little splash of magic to Aurora's face, she was all made up and set to go. The finishing touches were a pair of Carnalian earings and a gold choker necklace set with a Carnalian pendant in a pear shape. Aurora also had a matching ring.

"There now," she said as she stepped aside for Aurora to take a look at herself in the mirror.

Aurora gasped at what she saw. Her eyes flew open wide with wonder.

"I hope you like it. I call it Flaming Fall, since we are entering autumn."

Aurora stood stunned her hands began to tremble. "Oh, my! Oh my! It's stunning. I look so beautiful. I look like a queen out of a story book."

Maleficent grinned from ear to ear when she heard Aurora say the dress was fitting of a Queen. She sighed knowing her job was well done.

"And _you_ say I outdone myself?" She turned to look at her godmother. "Oh, Faerie Godmother, you certainly have the gift too. I have to say that the dress I made you certainly can't top this. This is much like the coronation dress you made for yourself."

"Yes, it is. I just enhanced it and themed it for the season. I just crossed my fingers that it would be fitting for a Queen and your words confirmed that. Thank you for the compliment."

"Thank me? Thank you for this wonderful dress! Philip is going to flip!"

The two then laughed on Aurora's play on words. She kept swaying side to side watching how the dress changed color in the light.

"Well, I should hope so. Perhaps he will give you that kiss you been waiting for. Sheeh, I don't know what that boy is waiting for."

"Oh, he's just trying so hard to be a gentleman. He is being fussy and correct."

"Well, hopefully he makes a move soon before another elligible suitor sees how beautiful you are and makes his move."

Maleficent noticed the ribbon for the corset was out of place and moved in back of Aurora to tuck it in. While doing so she looked at Aurora's back and how smooth and beautiful it looked. The space between her shoulder blades was smooth and she couldn't help but place her hand there. She hung her head low.

"Godmother, are you OK?"

"Yes, I was just thinking that your back looks lovely in this dress. I could never wear something like this with my back being so horribly scarred."

Aurora turned around and looked into Maleficent's eyes. "But that is only one small part, the rest of you is so beautiful. Your eyes are amazing. I wish I had eyes like yours and your cheekbones. Your face is the most beautiful I have ever seen on a woman."

"Oh, my." Maleficent whispered as her face went pale with shock. She could feel a wave of emotions come over like that first night when Aurora said, 'I love you.' She could feel the tears well up in her eyes and she turned and got up and walked towards the window putting her hand on her chest. She could feel her heart pound heavily.

"Godmother, what is the matter?"

"Nothing. It is just that was a very sweet of you to say. Thank you." Malficent spoke, her voice quavering, "Aurora, you are beautiful as you are. My features are different and unique as I am not human. Most humans see this and are scared of me because of my magical abilities. Many don't understand what they see and become afraid. They don't want me around. You are human and, of course, will fit in. But me, I always have trouble fitting in. I am the only one of my kind here."

"I think your eyes are gorgeous and I think you are fitting in fine. I think the people will like you, especially when they get to know you. " Aurora assured.

Maleficent picked up her hankerchief which was sitting on the window sill and wiped her eyes. She then turned and walked back to Aurora.

"Not all of them. Let me show you something. Close your eyes," Maleficent instructed. She waved her hand and a red whisp came from her hand as she placed her fingers on Aurora's closed eyelids.

Aurora laughed, "Oh, that tickles, Godmother."

"Ok, open them and look in the mirror."

Aurora opened her eyes and noticed that they were the same as her godmother's. She looked up down, left right and all around and gasped.

"Oh, they are mine and so beautiful! Faerie Godmother! Thank you! They look great! I love them."

Aurora was about to hug Maleficent when she held up her finger and said, "Not so fast. Watch this."

Maleficent turned around and called to the door, "Matilde, come! I need your opinion on something," she then turned to Aurora. "Close your eyes."

Matilde was one of the servants that assisted with taking care of the royal clothing at the castle. When she came in she was taken aback by what Maleficent and Aurora looked like giving them compliments. Then she asked about Aurora's closed eyes.

"Aurora, open your eyes." Maleficent said.

Aurora opened her eyes and smiled, "Matilde, do you like my eyes? Godmother changed my eyes to the same as hers."

Matilde's eyes became very wide and her face turned pale with fright. Her hands started to shake.

"Matilde?" Aurora said, "It's still me, Aurora."

Matilde mumbled something about god and hoobie joobie magic and then she started to run to the door.

"Relax Matilde", Maleficent said as she waved her hand over Aurora's eyes and they were back to their normal color. "Aurora is fine, I mearly changed her eye color with an illusion."

Matilde relaxed and then said, "Oh, I am sorry for my reaction, your majesties. I am still having trouble adjusting to the magical power your people possess, Madame Maleficent."

"Understood, you may leave us now," Maleficent said.

As she left the room Maleficent turned to Aurora and said, "See what I mean. They are afraid of what they don't understand. They are afraid of me, they are afraid to accept me."

"But I am not afraid and I am one of them."

"Yes, you are like them in that you are human, but you are not like them in that you were brought up in our world. I let you into my world and was amazed that you were facinated by it. You wanted to learn about my world. So you now have that knowledge. So you are accustomed to myself and the faerie folk of the Moors. You were brought up around magic. We will have our work cut out for us acclimating these humans to our world. Thankfully it appears that some, such as Sir Joseph, are very open minded. He sees me as he does a human woman and accepts me as his ruler. He will acclimate very well. But others, like Matilde, will have a tough time.

The bottom line is cherish who you are. You will be more accepted into this world than I will be. But I am very flattered by what you have said to me."

Aurora pouted a bit, "I understand what you are saying now, but I still want your eyes."

"Perhaps if they have some time of maquerade ball in the future, I will change your eyes again."

"What about when I am with you on the Moors? Could you please change them then? I so want to surprise Diaval and Robin."

"If that pleases you, then of course."

"Yes, it would please me very much. Thank you, Godmother!" Aurora exclaimed excitedly. "I am going to take a small mirror from here and look at my eyes all day. Oh, I can't wait!"

"Well, we better finish up as there is much to do before guests start arriving for the ball."

Aurora threw her arms around her godmother and said, "Thank you for making this wonderful dress for me."

"And thank you for making my dress. It is very lovely and elegant. I _do_ like the way I look in this," Maleficent said. "I love the way the gloves look with this dress."

"Godmother, remember you promised!"

"Yes, my dear, I know. I will not wear them all night."

"I think we are going to be the best looking women at the ball," Auroa beamed as she tightened her embrace. "Oh, I love you so much godmother. This has been a great day so far, I have so much fun with you."

"I...l...love you too my dearest Aurora," Maleficent could feel tears begin to well up in her eyes again. She just closed her eyes and placed a small kiss on Aurora's forehead.

Aurora, Diaval, Prince Philip, Robin, Knotgrass, Flittle, and Thistletwit were all awaiting their annoucement into the ballroom. They were waiting in the vestibule between the side hall and the rear ballroom entrance. With the grand hall still closed off, they were entering through the back of the ballroom instead of the normal entrances through the side. Maleficent got hung up with some details with Sir Joseph and wasn't yet there.

Everyone in the vestibule was admiring the Queen's new dress.

"Charming, my queen, lovely." was the cool reaction of Duchess Beatrix.

"Thank you Duchess Beatrix, it's an honor to have you here. You are very stunning yourself." Aurora.

"Thank you for the invitation, my dear. I have not been invited to a ball here since...well when King Henry was inaugurated. The place was rather deplorable back then. I see that you are _finally_ fixing the place up. It's about time and nice to see a woman in charge of things around here. Ta Ta my dear."

The Duchess moved forward to the inner door to the ballroom. Diaval couldn't help but notice that the Duchess was a very beautiful and elegant woman. Very tall and thin with long dark wavy hair. She also had very dark eyes. She had a slightly drawn face with high cheekbones. She had tight narrow lips. She shared many bodily features to his own Maleficent.

But the Duchess was different in her attitude, she seemed very uptight and arrogant, always looking with narrowed eyes and carrying her nose high and her chin up. Almost seemed like she knew she was beautiful and she wanted to rub it in everyone's faces.

"And who are you? I don't recall someone like you before," the Duchess asked Diaval as she held out her hand.

"I am Diaval, my lady," Diaval said as he bowed down, took the Duchess' hand and kissed it.

"Charmed. Where are you from and what is your title?" the Duchess asked.

"I am from the Moors and I do not have a royal title."

"Indeed, then what are you doing here in the royal lineup?"

"I am escourting Madame Maleficent. She will be here in a moment."

"Ahhh, yes, the horned one, as I recall. So you are with the faeries then?"

"Yes, my lady," He said bowing again.

"Splendid, Splendid. I like your manners, Diaval. You know how to properly address a lady of royalty."

Just then Sir Joseph announced the Duchess' name.

"Ahhhh, I must be off."

"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, my lady," Diaval said again bowing.

The Duchess smiled, raised her hand and slightly waved and walked into the ballroom with a heavy swagger.

Diaval turned to Robin, "What the heck is up with her. She seems well mannered, but not very nice."

"Ahhhh yes, even I have heard of that one. What a piece of work!" Robin shook his head.

Everyone's face perked up as they tried to lend an ear to what Robin was saying. He continued, "The Duchess Beatrix of Wedgemore: Very beautiful and glamorous, but also a wonderful example of arrogance and conceit," Robin informed gesturing with his hands. "I have heard that she is wound up so tight that if you shove a lump of coal up her ass, a week later she would crap out a diamond."

Everyone in the vestibule burst out laughing except for Queen Aurora. Diaval's laugh was particularly explosive.

"Robin, that is not true and not a nice thing to say!" Aurora said, a bit cross.

"Hmmm, I have my doubts as well but we shall see. Diaval, my friend, perhaps you could give it a shot and _Wedgemore_ coal up her butt and let it cook for a few days."

Once again the vestibule was in an uproar.

Queen Aurora had a very cross look on her face. Her face was beginning to turn red.

Knotgrass then chimed in herself, "Yes, I remember not too long ago a certain someone had a rather large staff up her ass. Diaval had to pull really hard to get that one out."

The laughing intensified, but Diaval wasn't laughing and he was surprised at Knotgrass's remark.

"Stop, now! That's an order!" Aurora demanded, "If Maleficent were here I am sure you all wouldn't be speaking like that. I know we all know each other and are joking around, but she is your superior and you should show your respect especially in front of our guests. I don't want any tongue slips inside that would give the fae folk a bad name. I want us to come off as well mannered and just as respectful as they are."

Everyone became quiet, shook their head in agreement, and replied, "Yes, my queen." or "Sorry, my queen."

"Good! And thank you. I am sorry to sound cross and exercise my authority, but that wasn't a nice thing to say, especially about Godmother. Those of you laughing all forgot what she went through? Also, we are trying to be friends with those outside the Moors."

Knotgrass hung her head low. She apologetically said, "I am very sorry, Queen Aurora. You are correct. We DO know what Maleficent been through. It is just that I got carried away and just was having a bit of fun with Robin."

Robin also apologized bowing, "I am sorry, my queen. I am the cause of this all. I just wanted a good laugh."

"You are forgiven. Now, lets put this behind us, we can all have fun inside, but not at the expense of others." Aurora urged.

Diaval and Robin made their way back to Queen Aurora. "I am sorry, I wanted to come back here and say that you certainly are a vision of loveliness, my Queen." Diaval remarked as he knelt on one leg and kissed her hand. "You and your dress are simply stunning."

Immediately Aurora put a smile back on her face.

"Arise Sir Diaval, you are galant and noble," Aurora joked with a queenly heir. But then she spoke normally as she flashed back to the comment the Duchess made about Diaval's status. "Diaval, I just realized I am going to have to knight you. I want you to be royalty too, you know."

"Thank you, Queen Aurora, I would like that very much," Diaval said.

"Oh, and you are looking pretty strapping yourself, Diaval," She said eyeing Diaval up and down.

Diaval was wearing a hunter green long sleeve shirt that had a large collar which dominated the ensemble. Diaval wore the collar wide open so some of his chest was exposed. The sleeves were very wide and billowy and hung low at the wrists. Over the shirt he was wearing a black tunic that was cap sleeved, the lower part stopped about mid thigh and had a split in the middle from the waist down. The arm and lower hems had gold trim. He had black pants that were stretchy and clung very tight around the thigh and a pair of black boots that came up to just below his knee. He also was wearing a black hat with green trim that had raven feathers in it. Around his waist he wore a black belt with a matching buckle to his boots.

"Thank you," Diaval replied. " Sir Joseph helped pick it out for me. Do you think Maleficent will like it?"

"Oh, I am pretty sure," Aurora said with a little bit of an evil grin as she looked at how tight the pants fit around Diaval's legs.

"It's phenomenal," Robin said as he darted to and fro looking how the skirt portion of Aurora's dress changed color. "That woman has some serious talent. I am even wondering how she did this. It is very tightly woven satin, that is for sure. But the pattern... She had to have used magic to make this one. This could not have been made my hand. It is too tightly woven for that effect."

"Guys! Why so analytical?" Aurora tried to get the attention back to her.

"Sorry, Aurora, I was just marveling at Maleficent's handiwork", Robin said. Then the smile faded from his face as he suddenly had a concerned look on his face.

"What's the matter?" Aurora questioned.

"I know you", he said waving his finger at Aurora. "I am worried at what kind of dress you created for my lady. I am concerned you created something that upstages yourself. The queen should ALWAYS be the prettiest and most glamorous at the ball."

"Oh, no, I seriously have her beat with this one. She _is_ very beautiful and elegant though. But, perhaps I am biased because I love her."

Aurora felt like playing with Diaval for a bit, "Well, I will say it is my best dress I made for her yet. She even told me that she feels beautiful _and_ sexy wearing it."

Diaval swallowed hard as he looked to Robin and said, "I think I am going to be in trouble again."

"Yep!" Aurora agreed. "Even I got the chills when I finally saw her in it. She's _extremely _elegant."

"Oh, I am _really_ in trouble," Diaval said worriedly as he looked down and noticed that his outfit was pretty form fitting and stretchy from his waist down. There was no room for his manhood to go but out. If he got excited at the sight of his lover, he would certainly show. Luckily the suit was predominately black and the tunic would cover most of the area and he figured he could hide in shadows if need be. But if he became too big, he most certainly would be noticed.

Robin caught his look downward look and laughed, "I believe I know what you are worrying about, my friend. Come." Robin pulled Diaval aside to speak to him more in private. The two whispered to one another.

"Two things you need to know for tonight: I know it is difficult, but try to look away and think of something else. If you start focusing on her body then you will be in trouble, for certain." Robin advised Diaval. "Another thing is that once this soiree gets under way, see if you can 'steal' Maleficent for a while and then skulk away with her. Take a look here," Robin handed Diaval a piece of paper with directions on it. "I kind of had a funny feeling you might run into trouble and I took the liberty of setting you up with a storage room down the hall that is pretty private. Now it isn't glamorous as they stock grain bags in there, but I put a few items in there to make you two more comfortable just in case you need to have a moment of 'release.'"

"Release? Do you mean I should..._'do it'_...with Maleficent in there?" Diaval motioned with his fingers.

"Yes!" Robin sound annoyed, "If you don't you are going to be wandering around here all night with a stiffy. If you sneak off with her and have your 'release' you will feel much better the rest of the night. You probably will be good for a few hours thereafter."

"Ok, thank you, Robin. Sometimes I get on you for that vulgar mind of yours, but this time I owe you one. I have a funny feeling that Aurora outdone herself with Maleficent's dress. I just know I am going to want her," Diaval still sounded worried.

Sir Joseph announced the three faeries and they proceeded to fly out into the ball room.

"Well, I'm next!" Robin said. "You best be finding your lady. She should have been long finished with Sir Joseph by now, since he is doing the announcements."

"Yeah you're right, I am supposed to escourt her in," Diaval said.

Just then Maleficent burst through the outside double doors and one of them hit the doorman and he fell over. Prince Philip was closest and helped him to his feet.

"Oh, my! I am so sorry, I was in a rush to get here in time."

Prince Philip got a good look at Maleficent and said with a stunned look on his face, "Oh Wow, you're beautiful, my lady."

"Why thank you Prince Philip," Maleficent said smiling.

"Philip!" Aurora exlaimed getting annoyed that his attention drifted away from her. She motioned with her finger for him to stand beside her. He couldn't take his eyes off of Maleficent.

"Wow, you have done an incredible job on her dress!" Prince Philip said to Queen Aurora.

Since Robin was flying he had the better vantage point. He flew higher to get a better look. Diaval could see his eyes flew open wide.

"Whoa! Oh my word!" Robin put the back of his hand on his forehead and made like he was fainting. "Somebody catch me!" he said as he proceeded to fall out of the air. Diaval prepared to catch him, but he then started to fly just before he reached Diavals hands. Diaval knew he was joking. He then flew back up for another look.

"Oh, she's gorgeous, absolutely stunning, she soooo hot!" Robin gushed.

Diaval could feel himself becoming more and more nervous and worried with every compliment that came forth from Robin's mouth. His heart began to race and he was becoming very warm.

"Diaval, my dear bird, you are going to need that room! Heck, seeing her in that dress, I'M going to need a release!" Robin exclaimed in jest.

"Robin, you are not helping any," Diaval said angrily, gritting his teeth.

Just then Sir Joseph called, "Confidant to her excellency, Madame Maleficent: I give you Robin."

Robin cocked his head and made a click sound with his mouth. "Love to stick around and check out the beautiful scenery," Robin gestured to the direction Maleficent was, "but that's my cue."

Robin smiled and then flew towards the inner doorway. He then turned around one more time and said, "Good luck!"

'Yeah, I am going to need it too,' Diaval thought to himself as he called back to Robin, "Thank You!"

At that moment Diaval could feel Maleficent quickly move up to his side. At first he closed his eyes.

"Sorry! I am running a bit late. It isn't easy to move fast in this dress," Maleficent said as she initially glanced at Diaval, but then did a double take looking at his new outfit."

"Well, Well!" Maleficent's eyes opened wide and then she looked seductively at Diaval, "Oooo, you are rather dashing, Diaval."

Diaval opened his eyes and turned towards his love. His worst fears were confirmed. He just blurted out, "Oh My." He swallowed hard. The worried look on his face intensified as he was gazing at the epitome of sheer beauty and elegance.

Maleficent's eyes were drawn to the tight pants Diaval was wearing, it was nicely showing off his legs and knees. She thought to herself, 'Oh do I want to run my hands down the inside of those legs.'

Diaval continued going through is own paces as he went off to another world checking out Maleficent's dress. His eyes slowly made their way from top down. Then he paused at her fully open chest. In the well lit room he could see the very faint outlines of her ribs. Her chest expanded gently as she breathed. Then he became fixated on the slight bit of her cleavage that was showing at the lowest point where the bodice came down to a 'v'. He then looked at her gloves and how nicely they hugged her arms, showing their shape beautifully. The way the gloves came to a point that curved out at the shoulders really looked elegant. He continued down and saw how the transition from the bodice to skirt hugged her hips. He couldn't resist from putting his hands right on her hips. He looked down and from there the skirt section came down and flared out to the ground.

He let out a rather audible sigh as the he looked back to her face admiring the beautifully elegant woman standing before him. He was tempted to pull her close and steal a quick kiss, but her mouth began to move and suddenly he snapped too.

Maleficent and Diaval almost didn't hear themselves being announced as they both were checking each other out. Maleficent came to first.

"Diaval? Are you OK? We have been announced! Lets go!" Maleficent urged inviting him to take her arm.

Diaval looked upon her lovely hand. He could see her skin through the lace the back of her hands as he raised her hand and brought it to his mouth giving her an extremely gentle kiss on the hand as he looked her deep in the eye. He then placed her arm within his arm, his eyes never moving from hers.

"Oh, Diaval, that was sweet and very romantic," she whispered. She smiled and shrugged her shoulders a little bit, putting Diaval in another world. "Come now, my honey."

Diaval swallowed really hard and then looked forward as they walked into the ballroom. He did as Robin instructed and kept looking straight ahead. He thought to himself, 'Just look straight ahead. Don't look at her.' But he could tell some harm was done already as when he was in his world checking his love out earlier. He could feel his manhood was pushing out against his pants a bit. It wasn't bad, but he felt he had to get control quick otherwise a disaster would ensue. He kept reminding himself not to look at her. He took a few deep breaths. It was helping. He started to feel more calm too as he continued to walk into the ballroom.

Diaval could hear a bunch of gasps and Oooh's and Ahhh's from the people. He heard some some lines such as: 'She's beautiful and graceful' 'Oh, she looks so lovely in that dress.' 'Its modern and edgy. It looks great on her.'"

Maleficent slid her arm down to Diaval's hand and their fingers meshed. Diaval took a glance over to her face and her cheeks were flushed and she was beaming. She was nodding her thanks to those complementing her outfit.

He was looking ahead where a pair of thrones were placed at one end of the ballroom. 'Concentrate on looking forward.' But Diaval had hard time doing so he ended up looking slightly down at the hand he was holding in his. He couldn't help but follow her arm up to where the glove stopped at her beautiful bare shoulder. He could see the little lines in her shoulder come and go as they moved together.

As they approached the thrones Diaval whispered, "Aurora did it again."

Maleficent leaned close to Diaval's ear, "No talking while walking the line, it isn't polite."

"Oh" Diaval said and then he thought to himself. 'Sorry, I didn't know that."

Soon they reached the thrones. One was in the middle and another slightly to Diaval's right. Sir Joseph pointed the way to the throne on the right and Diaval passed Maleficent's hand to Sir Joseph who helped her into the throne.

Diaval saw Robin waving to him by the table below indicating he was to sit with him there. The three faeries were also at this table in addition to other fae folk from the Moors. Diaval surmised that the tables were set up in sections, with Royalty at the table in the front and to the right of the queen. The Moors folk, were situated just in front of Maleficent's throne. Diaval sat right below her. Just as Diaval was settled in, Sir Joseph made his last introduction.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Prince Philip of Ulstead in escourt for Queen Aurora of Malora."

The applause was thunderous as everyone stood up. The doors opened and Queen Aurora entered with Prince Philip.

Diaval wasn't in a great spot to see the two walking down the aisle, but he passed a look over to Maleficent and she was beaming as Aurora proceeded to walk towards her. As she was clapping his eyes again darted to her arms and shoulders. He could hear the complements on Aurora's dress. Some were bewildered at how the dress appeared to change color in the light going from gold to red.

Queen Aurora made her way to the throne in the middle and Sir Joseph assisted her in to the throne. Prince Philip made his way to the other table on the opposite side of the ballroom where other outside dignitaries were sitting. He took a seat next to his father King John.

Sir Joseph then spoke a few words to Queen Aurora and she stood up.

"Thank you for coming and welcome to my coronation ball," She opened and then joked at the tardiness of the ball in relation to her coronation ceremony and added, "...belated."

There were some giggles and laughs among the crowd.

"I also welcome the reestablishment of this town to be henceforth known as the 'Hamlet of Malora'. I am your new Queen, Aurora successor to the throne of my father, King Stefan."

Diaval watched at how poised Queen Aurora was. Even at such a young age she possessed a natural leadership ability. She stood proud and and her voice didn't quaver. She didn't seem the least bit nervous. She went through her opening announcements and the directions the newly formed hamlet will be taking in the future. One of the things she mentioned was how the town would be gearing over to textiles for tradeable goods, making linens, towels, bed sheets and quilts.

Diaval sort of phased out of the announcements and kept looking at his lover. The way she sat in the throne. He could see her glance over to him and smile every now and then. Then she seemed to be a bit nervous and kept crossing her legs back and forth and even move her hips. Perhaps the throne wasn't comfortable? But that can't be since the seats looked very comfortable. Perhaps she was just getting used to the new dress. Diaval then could feel himself drawn to her arms. How the gloves fit and followed the taper from her wrists up her forearms, to her upper arms and finally her shoulders. He loved the little lines that came and went on front of her shoulder whenever she lifted her arm. Then he could feel the tingling again. Quickly he pulled his eyes away.

Maleficent noticed that Diaval would look up to her every now and then. In between his looks she would glance down at his thigh. She figured why not indulge a bit and she dreamed of the moment she would be caressing his thighs and then working her way up the inside of his legs. She could feel a bit of a tingling at first, but figured it was Ok to indulge just a little more. She thought of watching his manhood creep down his leg and become longer and thicker by the moment and then all of a sudden she wanted him. 'Oh No' she thought to herself. Her breathing deepened. She tried to cross her legs in slighlty different ways hoping that would aleviate the tingling.

Queen Aurora was nearing the end of her announcements.

"We are also going to have a little fun tonight with a dress contest and ballots will be handed out for those who want to vote on tonight's dresses. And now, my good people, I finally open the floor to tonight's festivities. Be well and have a good time!"

The crowd stood up and roared with applause and the band started to play.

King John from Ulstead didn't waste any time and approached Aurora for the first dance. He approached the throne and put out his hand and said, "May I have the honor of having the first dance with you, my Queen."

Aurora stood up and curtcied, "Gladly, your majesty." The two proceeded to the dance floor.

"Dance?!" Diaval sounded surprised as he leaned over to Robin and said, "I can't dance."

"What? Maleficent didn't mention anything to you that you DANCE at a ball?"

"No, I thought it was just eating, talking, playing games and listening to music."

Robin laughed, "Dancing is the very essence of going to a ball, my friend."

Diaval leaned over to Robin, "Aurora can dance? How did she learn how to dance."

Robin just shrugged.

"I taught her when we were at the cottage" Knotgrass said as she overheard what Diaval said. "I figured when she would return here the castle, there would be a big celebration and she would have needed to know how to dance."

"Well, there you have it." Robin said, "Look, don't sweat it, if Maleficent didn't mention it to you, then more then likely she can't dance either.

Diaval still sat dumfounded.

After a few turns on the dance floor, King John passed Aurora to his son, Philip. King John then proceeded to approach the Duchess along with a two other men. But when those men saw the King approaching, they scattered. King John kissed Duchess Beatrix's hand and then the two of them had their turn on the dance floor.

Then all of a sudden those two men along with three others approached Maleficent. A group of four more men followed behind them. They walked swiftly at first, but then sped up to a jog.

Diaval turned around and faced Robin. He began to turn pale, "Robin, how could I have not known about this, I can't dance. But I want to dance with her."

"Eenie Meanie Minee Moe."

"What are you saying?" Diaval asked, "Oh, I am just doing Eenie Meanie to figure out which of the ladies I am going to dance with first."

"What? _You_ can dance?" Diaval asked Robin.

"Sure...well, not really on my feet, of course. Faeries dance in flight."

Robin then went over to Knotgrass and offered his hand, "May we have this dance?"

"Why certainly," Knotgrass accepted.

Flittle and Thistletwit just giggled. Then a couple of dashing water faeiries flew over and asked them to dance and off they went.

The table emptied quickly as most of the faeries paired off and were 'dance flying' close to the edge of the dance floor.

Diaval suddenly felt abandoned and he didn't dare to turn around to face Maleficent. He felt ashamed that he couldn't be out there with his lover dancing with her.

Maleficent sat on her throne. She looked to Diaval and for some reason he wasn't looking up at her. As she watched King John offering to dance with the Duchess, all of a sudden seven men approached her and offered to dance with her.

"I am sorry gentlemen, but I don't dance," Maleficent said.

Feeling shot down, the disappointed men said in unison, "Ohhhhhhh."

"I am very flattered at the offer though. Thank you all."

Shortly after Sir Joseph came from behind the thrones and came to Maleficent's right side and put his hand out. "May I have this dance?" he asked apparently not being around when Maleficent dismissed the first batch of men, "You are a stunning vision of beauty."

Maleficent smiled as she could feel her face begin to flush, "Why, thank you, Sir Joseph, but I am sorry, I don't dance."

"You don't dance, or you can't dance?" Replied in an equally low voice.

"Both really. My dancing skills are not really up to par and I don't want to embarrass you out there."

"I certainly could enhance your skills if you are willing to let me," Joseph insisted.

"No, I would rather avoid another awkward situation," Maleficent said, shaking her head.

With that the two of them laughed.

Out of the corner of her eye, Maleficent could see Diaval looking on, he seemed impatient and a bit angered.

"Well, if you don't want to dance, then that is up to you. But it is a shame as I would have loved to take a turn with you on the floor," Joseph sounded disappointed. He then looked at Maleficent with staircase eyes and commented on her dress again, "That certainly is one of the most interesting and elegant dresses I have seen. You do look amazing."

"Oh, why thank you, Sir Joseph. The credit goes to Aurora as she made it for me."

"I am not surprised given her talents with creating the room décor. I am assuming she also made her wonderful dress?"

"No, that dress I made for her,"

"Wow! You are equally as talented."

"Thank, you."

"It has been a pleasure," Sir Joseph said bowing his head and putting his right fist across his chest.

"Likewise", Maleficent said bowing her head.

Sir Joseph turned away and made a beeline for Queen Aurora. She was just finishing with her current dance partner and as she turned she nearly ran into Sir Joseph. After a few words, the two took to the standard ballroom dance hold and spun out onto the dance floor.

Maleficent looked out to the dancefloor which was becoming very full with dancers. At first she was content just watching, but when she saw Aurora and the others dancing, she all of a sudden wanted to be out there too dancing with Diaval. Hanging her head down, she knew Diaval didn't know how to dance either. But had she mentioned something earlier, perhaps she or even Aurora could have shown him a few steps.

When she looked up Diaval was standing in front of her and he took her hand kissed it and said, "May I have this dance, my lady?"

"Diaval, you can dance?" Maleficent said sounding surprised. She felt her heart beat a bit faster.

"No, I was only kidding."

"Oh," Maleficent sounded deflated.

"I am disappointed that you didn't mention this key detail that you have ballroom _dancing _at a ball."Diaval began to sound a bit angry. "I saw you turn away those men, I guess you can't dance either?"

"Actuallly I can dance, but only a little bit."

"So you could have danced with those gentlemen?" Diaval said growing more angry.

"Yes, I could have, but not very well. Also what you don't know about ballroom dancing is that it is customary to switch partners." Maleficent pointed out that the proper dance hold would have had the men place their hands right between her stumps. "So because of that and I don't want anyone touching me in the first place. I thought it wouldn't matter."

"But it does matter. _I_ would have wanted to dance with you," Diaval said a bit louder. Clearly he was becoming more irate. "I would dance with you all night and no one else."

Maleficent hung her head down, she knew she made a big mistake in not telling Diaval.

"I am in love with the most beautiful women in this room and I can't dance with her," disappointment was in his voice.

"Diaval, I am very sorry I didn't say anything to you, but what would you do if someone wanted to cut in and dance with me. I clearly don't want anyone but you touching me."

"I would refuse."

"Everytime? You see, therein lies the problem. Refusing is not being polite. You would be talked about as being a 'dance-hog', keeping one woman all to yourself not giving the other men a turn. Women would think the same of me, not letting you go."

Diaval saw the soft expression on her face and he calmed down and changed his tone back to normal and said, "I see, I understand your point, but still I would have liked to been informed."

"Diaval, I am somewhat upset with myself about this and I understand why you are cross with me. Now that I see for myself how much fun dancing can be, I regret not telling you," she said speaking softly. She hung her head low again. She crossed her arms and continued, "Now that I _want_ to be out there with you. I am ashamed of myself for not mentioning this to you."

Diaval put his finger under her chin, lifted her head and looked into her eyes. They were glistened over.

"It's Ok, my love, I understand now. But I still want to dance with you. If not tonight, perhaps another night."

Maleficent looked out to the dancefloor for a while and then her eyes turned towards the doorway which lead out to the main hall. "Diaval, I want to make it up to you and fix this," Maleficent smiled. "Come, take my hand."

Diaval helped her up from the throne. Maleficent then lead him out into the hallway.

"What are we going to do out here?"

"Dance, of course," Maleficent said with a smile on her face. "Out here we can still hear the music, people will not see my instructing you, they will not see how bad my dancing is, AND there is no one out here to cut in."

Diaval's face lit up and he said, "Thank you, my love. I do appreciate this very much."

"Now, don't get your hopes too high, It has been a long time since I did this and I am sure I am really rusty. I also only know the Waltz. It isn't too difficult to learn."

"That's ok, just do the best you can," Diaval sounded enthusiastic.

Maleficent proceeded to show the proper dance hold first.

"Ok, Diaval, most important rule is keep your body straight and even arched back a little bit. Have a very proud look. Don't slouch as that will destroy the look."

"Ok."

"This next part you are not going to like too much and neither will I, but you are going to have to place your right hand partially over my left stump. Thumb and index finger on, the rest off.

"Are you fine with that?" Diaval asked.

"Yes, Diaval, you have my permission to touch me there. You must do it for the proper hold."

"Ok,"

Diaval nervously reached around her back and placed his right hand just under her left stump

"You have to go a little higher Diaval," she said.

Diaval slowly crept his thumb and index finger up and he could then feel the protrusion and the harsh edge left from where her wing was.

Suddenly Diaval could feel himself become emotional and he could feel his eyes welling up.

"No, No, No, Diaval. Don't get upset."

"I...I can't help it. I just can't help but think what you would look like with your wings and what that monster did to you."

"Take your mind off of that Diaval. It is behind us and there is nothing you or I could do about it now. But am more at peace because I have you in my life. You are my wings, remember?"

"Yes, my love. That is very sweet of you to say."

Maleficent smiled at his remark and said, "Good. I know you mean well, but you must focus."

"Ok."

Maleficent put her left arm over his arm and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Ok, now with the other arms we are going to clasp hands togther like we are holding hands, like so keeping a slight bend in the elbow."

Diaval lifted up his hand and Maleficent took it in hers. She positioned their arms accordingly to complete the hold.

"Push your shoulders back and keep your back straight."

When Maleficent pulled her shoulders back her chest stuck out more. Her bodice shifted slightly down and the 'v' part of the dress dipped a bit lower into her cleavage. This caught Diaval's attention. He tried to sneak a downward glance into her cleavage.

"Diaval! Keep your eyes on my face, not my breasts!"

"Sorry, but you are somewhat your own distraction. You are just too darn beautiful."

"Diaval, thank you, but if you want to learn this, you will have to pay attention."

"Yes, I'm sorry, please continue," Diaval cleared his mind and tried not to look down but straight into his love's eyes. Trouble was, her eyes were beautiful too.

"Ok, it will get better, shift your body to the left a bit and come closer to me. You will be looking over my left shoulder. Now you can see where you are going and also this will give us space in between so our legs can move," she instructed.

This was much better as he wasn't looking directly at her and this would keep those tingling feelings at bay, if only he could just stay looking forward, but that was proving to be very difficult.

"Next we are going to step in a box pattern to the music."

Conveniently the hall's floor had large square tiles and Maleficent picked one to practice with. It wasn't too long before Diaval got the box pattern down. She had to remind him of his posture a couple of times, but he soon got it. Diaval nailed it right away. He never let his arms droop.

"I am impressed Diaval with your hold. It took me much longer to get it, but Stefan eventually got through to me and I got it."

"Stefan?" Diaval blurted out in shock and he dropped his hold.

"Yes, he is the one that taught me to dance."

"Really?"

"Yes. Come now, get back in your hold," she instructed.

Maleficent explained that once they had the box pattern down that the man will normally step out and lead the woman around the dancefloor and this is what creates the spinning effect. He did falter at first, but Maleficent then took over the lead and it was easier for him to grasp.

Diaval picked up the moves very quickly and soon Maleficent had him making nice smooth turns. The smile on his face grew wider the larger the turns were.

"You look like you are having fun, Diaval." Maleficent said with a sad expression on her face.

"Yes! Immensely. But why are you looking sad."

"I kept this from you and you looked so down back in the ballroom. I didn't know you wanted to dance. I would have never thought you would be interested."

"Well, I do want to be a gentleman, especially to you and what good am I as a gentleman if I can't even offer my woman a dance."

"I see, Diaval, but you are dancing with me now."

"Yes, it is wonderful. Thank you, my love, I appreciate this very much."

"Granted we will not be the talk of the town with these basic moves, but perhaps Aurora could show us more down the road."

"Yes, but we are moving to the music and it is the feeling that matters to me most. The spins are really fun," Diaval said with a very large smile on his face.

"I am glad that you are happy. I am happy too. It is very fun...I just forgot how fun it is."

Diaval then found himself staring at her neck and chest. He then looked up to her lips and as they danced, their faces slowly became closer. He then couldn't take his eyes off her lips, they were so full and red and he wanted to kiss her badly. He saw that Maleficent was glancing to him and also moving her head closer.

Soon the the song ended inside and Diaval just collapsed his hold and wrapped his arms around Maleficent and placed his lips on her mouth.

"Oh, my, Diaval! Ohhhhhhmmmmm," she tried to speak but ended up embracing his lips with hers. She put her arms around him and began to kiss very hard back.

The next song started up and Maleficent pulled back, breaking the kiss.

"Maleficent! I was enjoying that kiss."

"Diaval, you want to learn. Come Come, get back into hold. We can kiss later," she smiled and then joked, "My lips are not going to run away you know."

Diaval looked disappointed but complied and got back into hold. They started to move around the hallway in time to the music. About a minute or so ticked by and both were startled by someone clapping really loud. It was Sir Joseph standing in the doorway alcove.

Maleficent and Diaval broke their hold and look towards, Sir Joseph.

"I thought you said you can't dance, your excellency," Sir Joseph said with a slight disappointed tone in his voice.

"I said, I don't dance. I can dance but not very well."

"Indeed. That looks pretty good to me and it appears your fellow here is dancing well too."

"I was just showing him how right now," she said.

"Ok, if you are finished, I would like to offer again to dance with you inside."

"No, I am not finished and I am going to decline once again."

Sir Joseph was about to speak when he was interrupted.

"Horrible!" a voice came out from the ballroom door. "Just awful!"

Queen Aurora stepped out into the hallway, "Oh! Godmother, thank goodness you are here."

"What is wrong, Aurora?" Maleficent asked.

"There are these barbaric men over at the far table saying that women shouldn't run this kingdom and they are making fun of us and our town. I overheard them when I was dancing."

"Is that so?" Maleficent's eyes narrowed and her voice grew very stern, "Well, we will see about that. Will you excuse me, gentlemen."

"Your excellency, I can handle this for you," Sir Joseph urged.

"That will not be necessary, Sir Joseph, I'll can take care of this."

"I am sure you can, but let me..." he paused as Maleficent glared at him with narrow eyes. He then continued, "Just...Just don't kill anyone, Ok?" Sir Joseph sounded worried.

"Of course not," Maleficent smiled with an evil grin as she walked back into the ballroom.

A small group of soldiers in the far corner of the ballroom sat still shaking their heads. Sir Kenneth sat picking food out of his teeth with a large knife.

"Blankets and linens...pfftt," he mocked. "So that is what this hamlet has come to. I thought things were bad with King Stefan, but at least we were making things out of iron, and weapons.

The seven others sitting at the table with Sir Kenneth grumbled in agreement. Sir Kenneth gulped down some more ale from his mug.

Maleficent stealthfully weaved her way around the crowd and tried to get a closer ear to Sir Kenneth's table. Diaval followed not too far behind. Sir Joseph and Queen Aurora looked on from a distance by the doorway. Soon Maleficent was in earshot as she stood next to one of the large red curtains that covered the pipe organ. The curtain extended right to the table where the soldiers were seated. Maleficent had one hand on the curtain and slowly placed most of her body behind the curtain.

"Women! We have to take orders from two women now," Sir Kenneth grumbled as he took another gulp, emptying the mug. "Shoot me over another mug, Lefty."

Lefty grabbed a mug at the end of the table with his left hand and slid it down the table to Sir Kenneth. He put his hand out and grabbed the mug in mid slide.

"One of them isn't even a woman, but a FAERIE," he said making a femine gesture with his face and making a flapping motion with his hands. The others laughed.

"I am a warrior and I like to work with armor and swords. What is going to happen to us now that we are at peace? Are we going to become seamstresses and make dresses?"

There was more giggling and chortling amongst the men.

"Oh you laugh," Sir Kenneth continued a bit louder now, "Soon you will be trading in your sword for a spinning wheel the way these two are going to run the show now." He took another gulp from his drink.

Diaval slunk behind Maleficent and he could see her parting her lips in anger and her eyes were focused on the table. The more the inebriated soldiers talked, the narrower Maleficent's eyes became. Diaval could see an increase in the rise and fall of Maleficent's bare chest. He knew she was growing angry. He put himself in a position where she would notice him, he didn't want to startle her and soon he was right next to her.

"Diaval, stay back, things are going to get ugly," she said. Then she looked at her arms. "I think now is a good time for the gloves to come off."

She pulled her gloves off from shoulder down to wrists.

"Here my love, hold these for me," she said as she handed the gloves to Diaval.

"Maleficent, I hope you are not going to do something...outlandish. Remember we have a peace treaty with the humans now," Diaval reminded Maleficent.

"Well, they apparently don't accept women as rulers. That Sir Kenneth is forgetting who he is dealing with. I am just going to give him a little attitude adjustment."

"Just exercise a wee bit of caution, my love...Just don't hurt anyone."

"Don't worry Diaval, I will not hurt him..." Maleficent said reassuringly, but then turned and said with an evil grin "...much."

She pulled the curtain forward and proceeded to move towards the table behind the curtains. Eventually she reached the other end and poked her head out just slightly so she could continue listening to the conversation.

Diaval swallowed hard and said to himself, 'She's gonna scare the crap out of him.'

Sir Kenneth continued, "Taking orders from a 16 year old girl and some_thing _that isn't even human," he paused. "Even the new name for the town, Malora, sounds sooo gay!"

The group roared as they nearly found everything Sir Kenneth said to be funny.

"Uhhh, guys," a soldier by the name of Chuck called out.

"Yeah, Chuck?" Sir Kenneth grumbled as he stuffed a chunk of bread in his mouth.

"I can't find her. I see Queen Aurora over there with Sir Joseph. But there is no sign of Maleficent or the birdman. She'll kill us if she catches us talking like this."

"Look, she is not here." Sir Kenneth looked around, "So if she isn't here, she can't hear, right?"

Maleficent ducked behind the curtains as he looked in back of him.

"She isn't in this room. She's probably in the bathroom powdering her nose."

"So now, without weapons, what are they going to have us do if the town gets raided, throw these napkins at them! Let me see you guys load one of these into a trebuchet.

They roared again and Lefty fell off the end of the bench from laughing so hard. Sir Kenneth put some of the red meat sauce on his lips and shoved two forks in his hair and made them stick straight up.

"Uhhhh, Sir Kenneth, that isn't a good idea. What if she sees you. She's gonna kills us. You forgot what she did to King Stefan?"

"Chuck, if you don't like it leave the table. Let us have some fun. Here have some grub, it'll calm you down," Sir Kenneth said as he tossed a turkey leg over to Chuck. "Oh, what are we going to do now we don't have any weapons!" he yelled out in a high pitched voice acting like a woman in distress.

This was all Maleficent had to hear as she crouched down as low as she could. Diaval could see Maleficent creep out from behind the curtains. She was undoing something on the lower skirt portion of her dress. Carefully she made her way behind Sir Kenneth. Diaval thought to himself, 'Oh, she still has that evil streak in her.'" She turned to Diaval and put her finger over her mouth and made a, "Shhhhhh" gesture. In the crouched position she was in with her hands touching the floor, she looked very good to Diaval. He could see how her shoulders tapered down to an indentation where her bicep was. Her triceps were also noticable. Her arms looked very defined. He thought to himself, "What can I say? She's hot."

Maleficent gestured with her hand and a black mist formed around her body. She slowly stood up behind Sir Kenneth's seat.

"And so that, fellow former warriors, this is what happens when we take orders from a child and a moose," he let out a loud hearty laugh. At first everyone was laughing louder and heartier than ever, but then the laughter died very quickly and Sir Kenneth and the soldier to his left were the only two laughing."

"Oh! Come On! Fellas! That was the best one yet! Buck up! What are you afraid of her?" He said as he pulled the forks out of his hair and licked the sauce from his mouth.

All shook their heads, 'yes' in unison and they sat motionless looking above Sir Kenneth's head. "What? The forks made my hair stand up?"

"Ahhhh, I'm not afraid her," said the soldier next to him."

Maleficent's eyes darted to the soldier and she said, "Oh you _will_ be afraid."

The voice just to his right caught his attention and he quickly turned around to see a pair of yellow green eyes staring at him as the dark mist dissipated revealing a very familiar silhouette from within. The soldier's eyes became as wide as the plate he was eating from and he started to stutter, "I...I...I... I'm afraid, Yes, I'm afraid." He darted off the bench as fast as he could taking a few of the other soldiers along with him. Only three soldiers remained. Lefty sat in his place at the very end of the bench. He was very still and holding on to his mug, his hands were shaking.

Sir Kenneth gasped as he practically dropped his mug on the table. He tried to get up, but Maleficent slammed her hands down on his shoulders preventing him from getting up.

Diaval looked on as Prince Philip and Aurora joined him. "What is Madame Maleficent up to?" Prince Philip asked.

"Just watch, and prepare for a show," Diaval said angrily.

"Diaval, you look very upset and you're breathing heavy" Aurora asked.

"He called her a moose. That bastard called my woman a moose."

"What?! How dare he!" Aurora said angrily, "I have a good mind to give him a knuckle sandwich myself!"

Maleficent curved her finger tips around and began to dig her pointed fingernails into Sir Kenneth's shoulders. He tried to get up, but couldn't. The more he tried to get free, the deeper her fingernails dug into his skin.

"Gentlemen," Maleficent addressed. "Let me demonstrate why it is not a good idea to have a weak female moose in charge of your kingdom."

Maleficent's voice caught the attention of most of the back ballroom.

Sir Kenneth's could feel Maleficent's fingernails piercing through his garments and they were now pushing into his soft skin. His breathing deepened and became faster.

Maleficent whipped her head around to his right side and he turned to face her. She looked straight into his eyes and said with an evil grin. "Let's have some fun, shall we?"

With that he could finally feel her fingernails breaking his skin. He looked at his shoulders and he could see some blood slowly start to run down his shirt. He was amazed at the strength she had in her grasp. He could then feel her thumbs digging into his back. His breathing became erratic and he blurted out in a worried voice, "Oh, shit! Oh shit!"

"You got that right," Maleficent said nonchalantly.

She pulled on his shoulders and dragged him off the bench. When he was sitting on the floor, she moved in front of him and slammed her left hand under his jaw and proceeded to lift him straight up to his feet. He squealed and complained and made odd grumbling noises. Once he was standing Maleficent noticed he was a whole head shorter than herself.

"Such a brave little man," Maleficent mocked. "Do you know that it is usually wise to pick on someone your own size? Just in case you haven't noticed, I'm bigger than you."

The remaining soldiers just watched as Malficent dragged Sir Kenneth over to the wall and threw him up against it knocking the wind out of him. He collapsed to his knees.

There was a bunch of 'oooo's' coming from the crowd as more of the dignitaries came over to see what was going on in the far corner of the hall. Duchess Beatrix grabbed herself a ringside seat at the very table the men were sitting at. She asked what was going on and Diaval quickly filled her and other in regards to the the situation.

"Ooooo, that's got to hurt." Prince Philip said as he came over with Queen Aurora.

"Wait, it gets better." Diaval said.

Sir Joseph joined in and said to Diaval, "I hope she doesn't kill him."

So the word began to spread around the ballroom.

"Gentlemen, another demonstration of how unfit a woman is to rule," Maleficent mocked.

Again she scooped him up with left hand under his chin and brought him to his feet. She made a fist with her right hand and cocked it back behind her head.

Sir Kenneth realized that he was nearly in exactly the same position as Stefan was when he met his end.

As loud as he could muster with her hand on his chin, Sir Kenneth began to beg, "No, please, don't kill me, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

The crowd was cheering and Maleficent turned back to look, but her eyes locked with Sir Joseph's and he was shaking his head and mouthing, "No, don't do it."

She released her fist and then planted both her hands under Sir Kenneth's jaw and leaned forward and slowly pushed him up the wall until her fingernails dug into his temples. Apparently for a shorter guy, Kenneth seemed to be a bit on the heavy side and Maleficent's arms began to shake.

All of a sudden a large group of people began to applaud. By now even the band took notice and stopped playing.

Sir Kenneth tried to speak but with his entire weight on his jaw he couldn't. He grabbed Maleficent's arms.

"Don't you dare touch me!"

He grumbled again taking his hands off of her arms.

"Oh, what was that? Higher?"

Sir Kenneth tried to say, "No" and he tried to shake his head.

"Ok, the little man wants to go higher," Maleficent said with a grin on her face. She bent down and completely outstretched her arms and locked her elbows. She then pushed up with her legs until his head was clearly over her horns.

This time more of the crowd applauded.

"Wow, she's got him pretty high," Sir Joseph said. "Hope she doesn't drop him"

"I hope she DOES drop him," Diaval said.

The other's laughed. Even the Duchess had an ear to ear smile on her face.

"She is such a majestic woman...such power and grace," Sir Joseph commented.

Diaval took notice of his reaction and all of a sudden got an uneasy feeling within him. But it passed quickly as he turned back to Maleficent's little floor show.

Maleficent then pushed her knee in between Sir Kenneth's dangling lower legs.

Sir Kenneth tried to speak again.

"Oh, I am sorry, the little man has something to say," Maleficent yelled out. She then she shifted her hands from his chin to grabbing his shirt so he could speak. During the second transition, he slipped down slightly. He grimaced as he closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry, your excellency" he whispered.

Her eyes narrowed and she said, "What was that? I'm disappointed by that pathetic apology. You know what will happen if I let you go, right?"

"Yes, your excellency. Please don't."

"Come on, you can do better than that."

"I am sorry, your excellency!" he said loud enough so that his voice reverberated in the cavernous hall.

"That's better, but what are you sorry for? We have to give these good people an explantion as to why their leader has you pinned against the wall."

"I am sorry for mocking your leadership. I got drunk and..."

"Tut tut. Go on and make it fast, my arms are getting tired." With that she let up on her grip a bit and he slid down the wall a bit.

"Ok Ok!"

"Tell them what you called me."

"A moose."

The crowd gasped and began to look cross towards Sir Kenneth.

"I am sorry I called you a moose, your excellency. I am sorry for everything I said. But I really think you are beautiful."

"Well, well. That is much better, you can come down now."

Maleficent let Sir Kenneth go and as he slid down he looked in horror as his manhood approached Maleficent's knee. In the last split second, she pulled her knee out and he slumped to the floor.

Once again there was applause. Maleficent turned to the crowd and curtcied.

As Sir Kenneth stood up shaking, Maleficent still had her back to him and she reached down and undid the last clips on the skirt and she pulled at the pleats and the slit opened all the way down.

The Duchess looked with intrigue as she was one of the closest people nearby.

Sir Kenneth was beginning to move away from the wall. Maleficent poked the tip of her shoe out of the slit and then did a slight hop. With a loud, "Ha!" She whipped around with a roundhouse kick and planted the heel of her shoe right into the base of his neck again slamming him to the wall. She landed with her arms pulled up as in a blocking position but with her fingers splayed out. Maleficent's whole bare leg was visible right to the upper thigh.

The Duchess' eyes few open wide at the sight, but then she smirked.

The crowd was a mix of cheers, women gasping and some of the men proceeded to blow wolf whistles. Maleficent quickly realized she gone a bit too far as a woman showing her leg in public is a definite no no. She quickly withdrew her foot and folded the skirt over. She then addressed the crowd.

"You have no fear as your kingdom is in good hands between Queen Aurora and myself. Does anyone else object to having a woman as your leader?"

The crowd grew silent.

"Very well then, continue with the festivities!"

The band started to play music again and the crowd started to break up.

Maleficent marched back over to Sir Kenneth and pressed her fingernails into his chest while pushing him back against the wall.

Prince Philip said to Queen Aurora, "Wow, she sure doesn't let up on the guy."

She looked him straight into the eyes.

"Ahhhhhhh, please your excellency I...I said I'm sorry," his voice quavered as he was nearly to tears.

"Not so big now, huh, little man, "Maleficent said in a low angry voice as so only he could hear. "Let me tell you, not all faeries are small and cute and grant wishes, there are also warrior faerie's too. If you ever question my or Queen Aurora's authority again I will have you thrown out of the kingdom permanently. And if I am _ever_ to hear you call me anything disrespectful again, I personally will rip your damn heart out. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes...crystal clear, your excellency," he replied in a scared voice.

Diaval then marched over and was ready to grab Sir Kenneth by the shirt and he made a fist with his other hand. But then Maleficent came between them.

"I think we have done enough, Diaval, my love. Please relax."

"Why, I don't want to let him get away with calling my woman a moose."

Maleficent smiled, "I appreciate the kind gesture, Diaval, and I thank you. You always are gentleman. But what has been said is done."

Sir Joseph walked over and said to Sir Kenneth, "You are to be placed in a cell due your disrespect towards Madame Maleficent and the Queen." He reached out to grab his arm but Maleficent stopped him.

"That will not be necessary, Sir Joseph," Maleficent said calmly, "I believe I have done enough."

Maleficent pointed down drawing attention to the large stain on the inside pant legs of Sir Kenneth's pants.

Impressed with her results, Diaval said, "You seem to have a knack for doing that, my dear."

"Yes, that appears to be so," Maleficent agreed and then turned to Sir Kenneth, "Little man you are free to go."

"Thank you your excellency."

Sir Kenneth ran off so fast when he turned the corner to go out the door that he slipped and fell. His peers that were laughing with him earlier were now laughing at him.

Maleficent walked over to the table and her eyes narrowed.

"Sorry, your excellency," they said all together.

She walked over to the table and drummed her fingernails loudly on it.

"I am going to be watching all of you."

Maleficent reached down and began to button down the skirt, when she was interrupted by Sir Joseph as he came over and said, "My, everytime you come here, always some kind of drama plays out."

"I assure you that isn't my intention," Maleficent said. "Bad karma seems to have a habit of following me. It seems like _I _am the one that is cursed."

Sir Joseph and Maleficent giggled.

"I don't think I have seen a more impressive display of strength and grace at the same time, then that," Sir Joseph said.

"Well, I am a graceful warrior then."

They both laughed again.

Diaval was looking on as Maleficent and Sir Joseph were talking and laughing. He couldn't help but notice that the two have been talking quite a bit together recently. All of a sudden there was that new feeling again and it began to take a hold. He started to look Sir Joseph over, he noticed that he had a bigger build and a larger face than he. He had a cleft chin and no scars on his face. He also was dressed very well for the night. He started to think what if Maleficent was becoming interested in Sir Joseph, what would happen to him? Soon the feeling started to build up in the form of anger. He wanted to get over there and break up the two as soon as possible.

Diaval marched right up behind the two and then tapped Sir Joseph on the shoulder, "If you don't mind, I would like to have a little chat with my lady," he said in an uneasy but still well mannered tone.

"Of course not, I have to get back to Queen Aurora anyway," he said and then turned to Malefient, "That was a nice diversion your excellency. I would like to see something like that again in the future."

Diaval sneered when Sir Joseph turned and walked away.

"Diaval? What is wrong, you seem very cross and at Sir Joseph?"

Diaval lead Maleficent into the corner and said, "I see what is going on. You and him have been speaking an awful lot lately. You find him attractive don't you."

"No, well, I mean he is handsome, but I am not attracted to him. What on earth are you bringing this up for?"

"I don't know, it is a feeling deep inside I am starting to get when I see you talking to him. I don't want you with him. Your mine I only want you to be with me."

"Oh, Diaval, my word," Maleficent said as she put her hand on her chest. It's called jealousy, my love. Don't be jealous, I assure you that my heart belongs to you. Don't you remember that I don't allow anyone to touch me but you? That will always be the case."

"You're _my_ woman. _My_ mate."

Maleficent smirked and looked at Diaval with seductive eyes, "Oooo, aren't you the possessive little raven." She ran her fingers through his raven black hair. "You will always be my one and only love."

Diaval started to calm down with what she said and he replied, "You are my mate for life. I will never stop loving you."

"Oh, Diaval." Maleficent found herself moving towards Diaval's lips, and Diaval was doing the same. Then they both realized that they were still in the hall and came to.

Apparently the near kiss caught the attention of Robin and he yelled out, "Darn it you two, why don't you kiss for heaven's sake!"

"Robin!" both Diaval and Maleficent shouted together.

Robin threw his hands down, shook his head and just flew away.

"I think we should talk outside in the hall, away from prying eyes," she said.

"Yes, I agree."

The two started to walk towards the ballroom door and into the hall. She walked with her hands in one another in front of her. Diaval lead her by holding her by the back of her right arm. He loved the way her arm felt in his hand. He kept looking at her arm and then followed that up her shoulder. With her gloves off he could see even more movement beneath the skin of her shoulders. Following her dainty collarbone back to her neck, his eyes ran up to her lips. She turned to him and puckered her full lips up and blew him a kiss smiling. Then he started to feel it. He was looking too long and the tingling returned between his legs.

Diaval started to grow uneasy. He was doing the opposite what Robin said. He was looking too long and now he was about to pay for it. He could feel himself start to get bigger.

As they exited into the hallway, it was empty. There was a bench situated in an alcove diagonally from the doorway to the ballroom. A small torch was lit outside of the alcove.

"Let's have a seat there, Diaval suggested."

As soon as they were in the alcove, Diaval began to rub her arms up and down and his eye focused on her chest. He bent down a bit and gave her a kiss right where her cleavage started. He then started to stare at her lips. Maleficent's face was very soft in the dim light. She had a look on her face of desire. She pushed him up against the wall and moved her lips closer to his she felt safe enough to finally give him a kiss.

They both closed their eyes, they embraced and their lips met. Immediately she pushed her tongue into his mouth. Diaval already started to feel weak in his knees. But he held on and he started to rub his tongue against hers. She responded by nearly wrapping her tongue around his.

'Oh, my! How long is her tongue!' Diaval thought to himself.

Instantly he could feel himself get larger. She should be able to feel him soon, if not already.

All of a sudden she stopped the kiss and and looked down. "Oh, my Diaval, it looks like we have a little problem. I think we should stop."

Painfully, Diaval agreed. He wasn't sure if it was too soon to mention the room Robin found.

He decided to go back to Robin's advice and think of something else, he decided to talk about what happened earlier in the ballroom.

Diaval marvelled. "How long have you held Sir Kenneth up like that?"

Maleficent laughed a bit as she said, "I don't recall, I had him up there for a while, but near the end my arms did get tired. I could feel my arms shaking. I almost _did_ drop him on my knee."

"You should have. AND you should have let me knock his lights out," Diaval said softly. "I wanted to defend you."

Her face softened as she put her hand on his cheek. She replied, "Yes, I know you did and I appreciate that, my love. I did have it under control, but still, when you came over, it felt wonderful that you came to my rescue. It was a very sweet gesture."

"Awww, well." Diaval could feel himself becoming warm in the cheeks. He knew his face must be turning red. "I just don't want anyone being disrespectful towards you," Diaval paused as he looked his lady up and down. "Oh, you look so slender and graceful, yet the power you have in your arms and hands."

He couldn't take his eyes off her chest. She was still breathing a bit hard from the kiss. The reflection of the light off her chest made him want to just place his head there. The tingling wasn't subsiding, his manhood was more than halfway erect and was creeping down his leg.

Again he tried to change the subject.

"That kick at the end was awesome. Where did you pick that up from, and how did you do it in your dress?"

"Well, it is called a roundhouse kick and it something I knew how to do when I was a small girl. I have not done it in a while, but when Aurora showed me that the front pleats on this dress are actually concealing a slit, I just wondered if I could do the kick through the slit and so I practiced it all afternoon in front of a mirror until I nailed it. I really didn't think I would actually be using that kick tonight. But that little man just got me so riled up that I just wanted to do something that would scare the crap out of him and that was it."

"Wow! Well, that was impressive and effective too, I might add."

"Thank You, I actually thought it was too."

"I kept thinking what it would be like to be in Sir Kenneth's shoes' running my eyes down your lovely leg."

"Well, _that_ can be arranged." Maleficent said her eyes looking a bit seductive. She put her foot on the bench and started to undo the clips.

"What, you are going to do this now?"

After she did that she took Diaval by the hand and led him outside of the alcove to the wall. She then splayed her fingers and pressed him up against the wall.

"I don't know about this, what if you miss?"

"Don't worry, I will not hurt you," she said seductively as she walked with a sway in her hips to out in front of Diaval. Her back was to him.

She looked over her shoulder for a bit and then said, "Ok, don't move now, stay still."

"Ok," Diaval gulped hard not knowing if he should keep his eyes open or close them.

With a little hop, and a loud, "Ya!" that echoed in the empty hall, Maleficent swung her leg around and then Diaval closed his eyes at the last moment. After feeling a large breeze of air whiz by him, he could feel a gentle touch of something pointy and hard against his Adam's Apple. He opened his eyes to find he was staring right down her leg. His eyes ran down her ankle and right to her calf. There was a clear indentation on the lower part of her calf that moved as her foot moved. He could see a faint indentation running down the full length of her thigh as she flexed her thigh muscle. From this angle he could see every curve and taper on her leg. She had nearly a perfect leg. But that was it, he couldn't hold it back any longer and he felt himself get larger and his penis was trying to pull away from his leg, making him uncomfortable.

Malefient slightly moved her foot to the side resting it on Diaval's shoulder, so he could look down to her face. She was arched back considerably since he was much taller than Sir Kenneth. She was in the same fighting stance with one arm to the side and one in front of her, fingers splayed as before.

"You're amazing, my lovely warrior faerie".

"Thank You, my love."

She did look very beautiful from this angle, especially her leg. He then started to think that they might be needing that room Robin mentioned soon. As uncomfortable as he felt, he just smiled and reached up with both hands and started to massage her ankle.

"Oh No. Oh No! Diaval, don't," she said playfully.

"Uh huh," he nodded seductively.

He started to run his hands around her calf massaging it.

"Diaval, please!" She said as she swallowed hard. She straightened her body out in an upright position nearly doing a full split against the wall.

"Doesn't that hurt you?"

"Just a little, but I certainly wouldn't be able to go this high if it wasn't for my practicing earlier."

His hands reached her knee, he started to run his fingers around her knee and then to the soft area behind her knee. She flinched a little and bent her knee a bit, but straighted it back out. She was taking in Diaval's caresses. He seemed to linger for a while behind her knee.

Again she swallowed hard and with a worried sound in her voice she said, "Diaval...You are going to turn me on."

"Don't worry, dear, Robin fixed us up with a room at the end of the hall. He figured we might need it."

"Really? Oh, I don't know about that. They are going to miss us in the ballroom," her voice filled with concern. "Someone might come looking for us."

"Robin said that when he notices us missing, if someone asks about us, he will cover for us."

Just then Diaval reached her thigh. Her leg twitched at his touch. Diaval could feel the large muscle in her thigh flex. He ran his fingers along the lines that were created when her muscle flexed.

"I don't know," she said. Her breathing became noticably deeper. "Oh, please stop!"

"If you want me to stop, just pull your leg away."

Diaval was now on the inside of her upper thigh. Her breathing became very intense as her nostrils flared, she closed her eyes and whispered. "Oh that feels so good."

He was at the outline of her undergarment and began to slowly press his finger underneath. She let out a small moan but then took her leg down. She walked over to the bench and sat down. Her breathing was very heavy as she clipped the slit back together. She leaned up against the wall her chest rose and fell rapidly in the dim light.

Diaval was a bit hunched over from his current condition and he took a seat next to her. His caressing her leg actually made him even larger. 'Ahhhh, that feels better.' he thought to himself. He took a peek through the slit in his tunic and noticed he was just about fully erect. But he wasn't the only one to notice.

"Oh, my word! Diaval, why didn't you say something? You poor thing, you must be so uncomfortable."

"Yes, dear. I was fighting it, but in the presence of your beauty that proved to be impossible."

"Awww, you really know how to give me a compliment. And I want to take care of you." With that Maleficent reached over and ran her hand along the bulge on Diaval's leg.

"Oh No, Please," he said in a very worried manner.

"Hmmmm, that has a familiar ring to it."

While it was nearly the same thing Maleficent said to him moments ago, he wasn't sounding playful at all. Clearly he wanted to calm down, but certainly couldn't with her touching him.

Maleficent found it difficult to stop caressing his fully erect manhood. She knew he was at his full size by how hard it felt through the material. The bulge was causing the material to stretch so much she could see the details in the shape of his penis, especially the mushroom shape of the tip.

Diaval's breathing became very hard, but she noticed that she wasn't calming down from when Diaval caressed her leg. But rubbing his penis was having a similar effect on her. She saw how much it was affecting Diaval and knew it must have felt just as good as when he was rubbing her leg.

"You are making me want you."

"You _did_ mention Robin had a place for us."

"Yes, but I thought you didn't want to be away too long."

"It is clear I need to take care of you."

"So you want to go?

Maleficent seemed hesitant but she knew that Diaval was in need and looking at the size of his fully erect manhood. She suddenly wanted him inside of her.

"Ok, Let's go Diaval."

Diaval tried to get up but was severely hunched over.

"I can't walk like this. I am going to have to reposition it."

"Ok, I will keep watch"

So far there was no activity out in the hallway. After Diaval was done he was able to stand up straight. He turned around and took Maleficent's hand.

"Ok, it is this way, dear, it should be at the end of the hall, diaval said as he grabbed a torch from the wall so they could see."

In a long alcove at the end of the hall there was a set of double doors. Diaval pulled on the handle and the door was open.

"Let me go inside and check it out first," Diaval said as he walked inside. A bit later he called to Maleficent. "Ok it's good."

Maleficent then entered and closed the door behind her.

"There's no lock Diaval!"

"Really? Well, Robin didn't mention anything about that. I guess we just have to keep quiet then."

Diaval put the torch in a holder that was on a center support pole in the room. The room certainly had to be the correct one as there were bags of grain all over. On short stack of grain encompassing four bags there was a fur blanket draped over the bags and another blanket to the side. Around the back was a shelf built into the wall and several candles were there. A bowl of assorted fruits and grapes was also on the shelf with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"Robin you are fantastic! The best friend a raven could have," Diaval said.

Maleficent smiled, "Yes, that he is." She went over and popped a couple grapes in her mouth.

Diaval laid down on the makeshift 'bed' and was fiddling with his clothes until he managed to get his penis out.

"Ahhhhhh. Oh, thank goodness, free at last!"

Maleficent laughed loudly as she walked over to the 'bed' and sat down beside him. She wrapped her fingers around his shaft and began to gently stroke him.

Diaval closed his eyes. His penis seemed to have become less stiff from their walk to the room, but Maleficent stroked him a few times and ran her finger around his tip. Immediately he was nice and hard again. She noticed that the tingling sensation within herself was growing stronger too as she caressed Diaval. She then stopped.

"Why did you stop?" Diaval looked up at Maleficent she was undoing the clips on the skirt part of her dress and parting the pleats.

"Well, why waste an erection, right? You are not the only one in need, here."

"Oh, from the sound of it outside, I thought you were too nervous to make love in here."

Maleficent said, "Diaval, I too have been wanting you since I seen you in these new clothes. Seeing how these pants were hugging your legs, I became attracted to you. It wasn't bad at first, but, well, you probably noticed that I was constantly switching my crossed legs when sitting on the throne."

"Yes?" Diaval looked puzzled, I had wondered about that." He thought to himself, 'Well, that explains why she looked uncomfortable, she was aroused too. AND also that far back in the evening. Wow! So we both were wanting each other most of the night.'

Maleficent continued, "Well, that was one thing. Next was when we were just now getting close in the hall moments ago. Finally, seeing you in your state. It all is just making me want you."

Maleficent smiled as she pulled her undergarment off.

Diaval started to pull his stretchy pants down and undergarment as well.

"Don't get fully undressed Diaval. We might need to make a quick escape," she jokingly said. "So unfortunately this is going to be a quicky."

"Oh, I don't mind. Quick is better than nothing, and anyway, I want to make love to you in that dress. I been dreaming about it all night."

Maleficent's eyes flew open as she reacted to Diaval's remark. "You are just too sweet. Hmmmm," she sighed. "Just saying that is going to get me aroused."

"Really?"

"Well, not directly, of course, but if kind or sweet words touch my heart, then yes, I can be aroused."

"Ok, that is nice to know."

Maleficent got on top of Diaval

"Don't you want me to touch you to become more aroused?" Diaval asked.

"That's OK Diaval, I am fine."

Maleficent gently grabbed Diaval's penis and rubbed it on her her clitoris first. The rubbing also made him more stiff and it didn't take him too long before he became erect enough for penetration. She started to guide him to her vaginal opening even though he wasn't fully erect. Her hand shook a bit. He figured she must be nervous as he was too. Any moment someone could barge in on them.

Diaval could feel her pushing, but he could tell something felt different than when they previously made love. She didn't feel as moist and her opening seemed extremely tight. She started pushing harder and he was slowly inching his way in. This didn't seem right.

"Uhh, Uhhh!" she grunted.

Diaval could tell that she was very tight and tense. "Is it hurting you, my love?"

"Only a little. I'll be ok. Don't worry, I will open up for you," she reassured.

But it seemed like she was still fighting herself. She then pushed down really hard. He moved in a couple inches but felt like he bottomed out.

"Uhhhhhh! She said loudly and stopped moving."

"Maleficent, my dear, that look on your face is more of pain than pleasure. I also can feel you are not fully ready. Ease up or you are going to end up breaking something."

Maleficent laughed at Diaval's comical remark and then she said, "I thought I would be fine, but I do admit I am a bit nervous and perhaps that is preventing me from getting fully aroused."

"Do you want to stop?"

"No, You are already halfway inside of me. It does feel good, but I am still a bit tight. I just have to calm down."

Diaval then had an idea. He began caressing her breasts first following the outline of her dress and then close to the center. Finally he ran his fingers over her nipples.

Soon he could tell she was becoming more relaxed and her breathing became deeper and more consistent. He closed his eyes as to not get aroused himself by watching his lover. He figured that would make himself smaller and hopefully help.

"Ok, don't move, my dear, just stay still and let me do the work. Just relax."

She closed her eyes and her breathing deepened even more. Diaval gently rubbed the top of her breasts.

"Oh, Diaval, that feels sooo nice," her voice sounded more relaxed too.

Soon he could feel her start to get more moist inside and she became less tense. Her nipples became stiffer too as they started to push into the fabric on her dress. He could feel them more as his fingers ran over them. Her breathing, while heavy, was more relaxed now.

"Ok, that's it, that's it, my love," he said.

"Hmmmmm, Hmmmmm, Hmmmmm," She moaned.

He could feel her open up inside, and she slowly began to slide more down on his shaft. Soon he was all the way inside of her. He could feel the back wall of her vagina move away from the tip of his penis.

"Oh! Oh! Diaval, you really are getting me in the mood."

"This is amazing, my dear, I can feel the changes going on inside of you as you become more aroused. I can feel you and you feel much better."

"Yes, it does. There are many changes that go on in a woman's body when she becomes aroused. Thank You for calming me down."

"I don't want you tearing yourself up now."

"No, you are very thoughtful that way. I believe I am ready now. I am still a bit nervous, but better."

Soon she started to move again slowly at first, pushing him deeper inside of her. She then pulled back out slowly and then pushed back down. She then started to build up a rhythm.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Just a little, but it certainly feels much better."

"You sure you don't want me to stop?"

"No Way! After all you did to help get me going? Heck no."

Diaval giggled a bit at the way she responded.

Her face had a more pleasured look this time. Slowly she started to really pick up pace, but her strokes were too short. Diaval was starting to get too soft.

"No No Diaval, I am good, you can get big again," she said.

"I am sorry, my love, but the rhythm is wrong. Just continue to relax you still are a bundle of nerves."

She came to a stop and said, "You are right, I am still nervous. I am worried we might get caught Diaval." 

"Please, stay calm and stop thinking of the others in the ballroom. Try to think of us making love

in the Rowan Tree or by the waterfall."

Maleficent looked down at her chest. She was very warm and starting to perspire from going too fast and also being nervous.

Once again Diaval reached up and rubbed her breasts to keep her ready."

'Hmmmmm, yes, I like it when it rubs me like that. It's working. I do feel more relaxed now. He is so good to me. I have to do this for him. He needs this and, honestly, I need it too.' Maleficent thought to herself. 'I would like to try something different.'

She then opened her eyes and looked Diaval deep in his eyes, she smiled at him. "Ok. I'm fine."

She then reached back and grabbed Diaval's leg and put out her other arm out for him to grab. He took her hand at first, but she moved further up and grasped his forearm all the way up by the elbow. Diaval got the message and did the same.

"Ready?" She said in her normal voice. Her confidence returning to her.

Diaval smiled he said, "Yes."

She then started to undulate and pivoted her waist as she pushed down.

"Oh!" Diaval said, "Yeah, that's it. Go slow but deep"

'Ok'

She closed her eyes and kept the pace easy and slow, but she ran the entire length of his penis.

"Whoa! You really got it now."

Maleficent could feel Diaval begin to get larger inside of her. The feeling was intense as with each thrust she could feel him get wider and longer. "Hmmmmmm, oh yeah," she said softly.

She started to go a bit faster, but pivoted harder.

Diaval was starting to get vocal too as he let out a soft moan. His grip on her arm became tighter. With his free hand he ran his fingers across her collarbones. When he reached her shoulder, he cupped his hand over it and held on. She could feel herself becoming very moist and moving became easier and easier. Diaval let out another moan and he grabbed her shoulder tighter.

Suddenly he started to get large very quickly. As his girth increased, it started to drive her through the roof.

"Oh, Diaval, the feeling of you becoming larger inside of me. Its wonderful."

She grabbed his arm even harder, but tried to keep her fingernails away from his skin.

Diaval started to moan louder himself.

"Oh my. Oh my. You are still getting bigger. When is it going to stop!" She could feel him press on all sides of her vaginal walls and there was a pulling sensation each time he pulled out. It felt fantastic.

Diaval released his grip on her and switched to holding Maleficent by the shoulders. He ended up pulling her down as she pushed down.

"Uhhhhhh!" Maleficent let out a fairly loud moan. By this point she could feel that Diaval was reaching his maximum size and just became harder and harder."

Once again Maleficent slowed back down to a pivoting grind, the tingling slowly grew very intense. Diaval also was pulling himself deep into her. She was getting ready to climax.

"Ohhhhhhhhh!" Maleficent called out again a bit louder than she should have.

"Shhhhh, my love. We don't want anyone to hear."

"I am sorry, Diaval, but the feeling is very intense. You are so close to reaching my end."

"Are you almost ready?"

"Yes, I am. Go ahead, honey. Send me flying, I think it is going to be a big one."

Maleficent put her hands on his shoulders as well and grabbed really hard.

"Wow you sure do have a strong grip."

"Sorry, but it is coming" she gasped between breaths.

She gave it several good long thrusts. Diaval tossed his head back and held his mouth open. He let out some stifled moan and his grip on her shoulders also became intense. Then she felt it as his penis becoming rock hard. And then came the pulsing. She felt his fluid spray into her extremes.

Every muscle in her vaginal area tensed up and the feeling ran through her body. Her arms began to shake, her toes curled up.

"Oh, Oh Oh! OH My! OH My!" Maleficent grabbed a nearby towel and placed it over her mouth.

His penis pulsed a couple more times releasing more of his love inside of her.

"Huuuohhhhhhhhh!" Maleficent practically screamed into the towel and it still came out fairly loud.

"Shhhhh, my love. Someone is going to hear."

"I am sorry, It is a very big one, it is just really intense. I can't help it," she said between heavy breathes.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!" she started to moan loudly and then put the towel back over her mouth.

"That sure looked like you had a huge orgasm, huh?"

"Yes, Oh Yes, my love. It was a biggie. Oh, it is so warm in here"

Maleficent looked down at her chest and she was certainly more than perspiring, beads of sweat were running down her neck into her cleavage. Her arms were glistening.

Diaval moved and she could feel another pulse rippling down his penis.

"Oh! You are still going?"

"No, but I am still pretty stiff, I can make you climax again if you want."

"No, Diaval, that isn't necessary. We been in here for a while now and I don't want someone finding us like this."

Just then a faint knocking came at the door.

"Shit!" Maleficent said as she pulled herself off Diaval faster than she should have and she let out a small moan, "Oooooo."

Both Diaval and Maleficent scrambled to a sitting position. Diaval was a bit shocked as Maleficent normally doesn't curse. Maleficent's heart began to pound.

Then there was a voice, "Godmother, are you in there? Are you OK."

Both Diaval and Maleficent exhaled in relief, it was Aurora.

Maleficent was the faster one to get her skirt clipped up and she decided to answer the door before Aurora would barge in.

She slowly pushed the door open and Aurora was standing there.

"Yes, Beastie, I am in here."

"Oh my, Godmother, are you Ok? You are sweating."

"Aurora, my dear, a woman perspires."

"Understood, but sorry godmother, you _ARE_ sweating badly," Aurora corrected as she pulled out her hankerchief.

"Alright, so I am. I was feeling a bit out of sorts, but I am OK now."

Aurora was dabbing the sweat from around her neck, chest and forehead.

"Thank you, Beastie."

"Everyone is looking for you and Diaval. Is he here with you?"

At first Maleficent wanted to fib about Diaval being with her because then she would know. But then Aurora might go nuts trying to look for Diaval. So hesitantly she said, "Yeaaaahhh". But how it came out was a clear and dead giveaway.

Aurora looked down and noticed that the pleats on Maleficent's dress were a bit out of sorts. She then put that and her sweating together and she cupped her hands over her mouth.

"Ohhhhh!", she said removing her hands from her mouth, "I know why you are sweating. Oh, Ok I will leave you two alone. Keep doing what you are doing. Don't let me bother you. Don't worry I will cover for you."

Maleficent sighed heavily and said, "Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome, but I do want details later on!

"I was afraid you were going to say that."

Aurora ran off back to the ballroom.

Maleficent closed the door and went back to Diaval. He was dressed back up and had the bowl of fruit on his lap. He was munching on some grapes. On the floor he had two glasses of wine poured.

He handed the bowl to Maleficent, "Grapes and wine?"

"Most certainly."

She sat down next to Diaval and popped a couple grapes in her mouth and took a sip of wine.

Suddenly she turned to Diaval, "Funny, I find I enjoyed that very much."

"Really? You seemed to be so nervous initially and I thought you didn't want to go through with it." 

"Yes, I know, but now that it has been done and we were almost caught, I don't know, I have a different feeling about it. It is just the whole idea of us doing something we are not supposed to do. It's a thrill, to do it and not get caught. I would love to do this again in the near future," Maleficxent explained.

Diaval just laughed, "You really are an amazing woman."

"Why thank you, my honey." She popped another grape in her mouth.

Later on back in the ballroom, Aurora was calling everyone's attention as she was going to announce the winners of the dress contest she was holding. She was standing in front of her throne addressing the crowd. Maleficent was sitting in her throne with Diaval standing by her side. Robin was sitting on his shoulder.

"Ok, Ok, everyone. I have the votes in for our dress contest tonight," Aurora shouted to the crowd.

Sir Joseph had the final tabulations in hand and handed each, one by one to Queen Aurora.

"For the most glamorous the winner is Duchess Beatrix of Wedgemore."

The Duchess stood up and bowed her head down with a smile on her face. Everyone clapped and cheered.

"For the most elegant the winner is my Faerie Godmother, Maleficent!"

"What!" Maleficent said in a surprised tone.

"You won, Godmother!"

"Oh, My. I don't know what to say," Maleficent stood up and bowed her head and mouthed 'thank you's' to the crowd.

Everyone clapped and cheered with the exception of the Duchess. She had a seething look on her face, turned and then slumped down in her seat. Diaval noticed and then turned to Robin and said, "What is the matter with her?"

"I don't know, perhaps she is working on another diamond."

Diaval stifled his laugh

Queen Aurora ran a few more categories down until she came to 'most beautiful.'

"Ok, now this is the one you been waiting for ladies, the most beautiful dress tonight is..." Aurora paused as she read the card Sir Joseph handed to her.

"Oh my word. I don't believe this," Aurora held her hands over her mouth as she leaned up against her throne. "Everyone thank you so much. You have picked me."

Everyone clapped and cheered.

Sir Joseph leaned over and whispered to Queen Aurora, "Seems like that one was a no-brainer. Your look and dress is outstandingly beautiful. I had a funny feeling you would win this one."

"Thank You, Sir Joseph."

The crowd looked like they were ready to break up when Aurora spoke up again.

"Oh, wait wait wait. I have one more category that I came up on a whim and I will need a show of hands on this one. This one is aimed mostly at the guys in the room, but if you are a lady and want to respond, please do," Aurora said.

"The final category is..." Aurora intentionally paused. "Who looks the sexiest tonight?"

There were some gasps and hushed tones especially among the women.

Maleficent darted a shocked look to Aurora and said, "Aurora, my queen, that is not a very appropriate question."

"I just want to know Godmother. Take it easy, it is just for fun."

Maleficent sneered a bit as she turned to face forward. To her astonishment, more than three quarters of the men, and even some women, in the room were pointing their finger at her. She froze at the sight. Then thoughts ran through her head. They all think I am sexy? Oh my. She started to feel embarrased and sank lower in her seat. She tightly closed her eyes.

Diaval saw his lover's reaction and shot a look over to Aurora as well and very low voice said, "Aurora, you are embarassing her."

"Well, Well," Aurora said, "My Godmother, Maleficent is the winner."

The crowd slowly started to clap and cheer.

Maleficent, sitting low in her seat, glared at Aurora with narrow eyes. Aurora nodded for her to stand up.

Maleficent started to stand up and her hands trembling. Once she stood up and faced the crowd the applause became a roar. Someone near the front made a very loud wolf whistle and Maleficent's eyes darted in that direction. It was Sir Kenneth sporting new garments from the waist down. He bowed down to Maleficent. Maleficent smiled thinking to herself, 'Well, he learned his leason.' Maleficent bowed a few times and was ready to turn to Queen Aurora for a word, when suddenly the Duchess appeared right in front of Maleficent and she had an expressionless look on her face. Maleficent used her hands and motioned for the crowd to settle down so the Duchess could speak. She was bracing for the worst.

When the din died down, the Duchess said, "I must say that I have partipated in contests like this before, and I usually win. I also will say that I don't like to lose. But I admit I have been beaten and I very much admire that dress you are wearing. I like it and I want it. May I ask of whom made it for you."

"Thank you very much Duchess Beatrix," Maleficent replied in a surprised tone. "I am very flattered by your words and also your interest in my dress. It was our Queen Aurora herself of whom had made the dress."

"Very well, thank you," the Duchess said as she turned to Queen Aurora, "My dearest Queen Aurora, may I trouble you with favor and could you fashion another dress like the one Maleficent is wearing. I will pay any price."

"Sure, absolutely, Duchess."

"Splendid, I would like to meet with you after the ball to discuss the particulars,"

"Of course," Queen Aurora bowed.

As the Duchess when back to her table, another woman came up to Queen Aurora.

"My Queen, I am Countess Sophia of Westerfield and I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with the Duchess. I too am interested in Maleficent's dress. Can I trouble you for one too in blue?"

"Of course," Queen Aurora.

Then yet another woman came forth, but this time asking for the dress Aurora was wearing.

"Oh, my godmother, Maleficent made this for me."

The woman, of whom seemed to be a bit timid of Maleficent asked in a meek voice, "The dress is lovely and the prettiest one I have ever seen, could you make one up for me."

"Of course," Maleficent replied.

A few more women followed and huge smile appeared on Maleficent's face. She turned to Aurora.

"Yes? Godmother."

"I have an idea in which you can make something of your dress creations," Maleficent said folding her hands.

"Oh My! That sounds wonderful."

Maleficent then motioned for Queen Aurora to join her at the dignitaries table. She then addressed the group of an idea to create a line of clothing to sell which Queen Aurora would design. Many were interested. Materials would come from Ulstead. The Duchess was also interested in distribution of clothing in to nearby towns. It appeared that a potentially profitable form of income for the Hamlet of Malora was born. Queen Aurora would lead the project with assistance and supervision by Maleficent.

"We will reconvene in a week from now to discuss the particulars as tonight is a night of fun and I would like everyone to enjoy the ball and dance," Maleficent said.

As the group broke up Maleficent turned to Aurora as they walked out into the hallway, "I am not in the least bit happy that you embarrassed the crap out of me in front of everyone in there," she said gritting her teeth

"I am sorry, godmother."

"What you did with that contest was very risky and could have backfired giving us a bad name," Maleficent said in a angered tone. But then the expression softened on her face and she continued, "However, your stunt turned into something that will be profitable to this kingdom. So in that I am impressed. I think you will be a fine leader, my queen." Maleficent bowed.

"Godmother, no no no. Stand up, don't bow to me. It was you that came up with the idea."

"Yes, but when it came to design ideas, you pretty much ran the show back there."

"Thank you Godmother. I can't believe this is all happening...so many good things."

"Yes, it is a wonderful change after living over 17 years in a shroud of darkness."

There was a pause between them and then Aurora spoke up again.

"Soooo, I also proved my point on two counts. The people DO like you AND you _ARE_ sexy." Aurora beamed.

Maleficent smiled and looked down at herself and ran her hands from her waist down her hips. She then looked down her arms and at her chest, noting the very point that Diaval took an interest in. She then thought of the hot and steamy moment she and Diaval shared earlier, she leaned over and whispered in Aurora's ear, "Ok, I _do _feel a _little_ sexy in this...just a little bit. You did a great job."

"Just a _little _sexy?"

"Ok, Ok, more than just a little sexy. One thing for certain is that this is the nicest article of clothing I have worn in my life. I really am going to hate to take it off later."

"Awwww, thank you, Godmother," Aurora beamed.

"You're Welcome, Beastie."

"Soooooo, are you going to give me details of what you and Diaval were doing in that storage room?"

"Aurora!"

"Madame Maleficent, may I have a word?" the Duchess called out to Maleficent.

"Of course"

"Excuse me," Queen Aurora nodded her head and retreated back into the ballroom.

Maleficent and the Duchess continued to walk up the hallway.

"Madame, when I come to pick up my dress, I am wondering if I could trouble you with one more thing."

"Sure."

The Duchess had a look on her face that she didn't know how to say what was on her mind. "Would it...I hope I wouldn't be troubling you any if you could perhaps show me how to do that kick. I was very much intrigued by that move."

"Absolutely, it wouldn't be any trouble at all."

"Thank you, I will be looking forward to it."

Aurora wanted to go back to talking with her godmother, but saw she was still with the Duchess. Diaval joined her a few moments later and looked on as well.

"I think godmother may have found a new friend."

"Indeed, considering most here see the Duchess as typically unfriendly," Diaval added.

"Diaval! That isn't a nice thing to say.'

"Well, that is what Robin said."

Diaval could see that the Duchess retreated back into the ballroom and Maleficent turned back to them.

Sir Joseph also joined them and said, "I believe dessert will be served shortly."

"Splendid," Maleficent said, "I am in the mood for something sweet."

"Here are your gloves, dear." Diaval said as he passed the gloves to his lady.

"Oh! Thank you, Diaval."

Aurora grumbled a bit as she watched Maleficent put the gloves back on.

"What? I did have them off for a good part of the evening, Beastie"

"Oh Alright!" Aurora sounded disappointed and crossed her arms.

"You look beautiful both with and without the gloves," Diaval said.

Malefient could feel her face becoming flushed again, "You are always such a sweetheart."

The rest of the evening went without a hitch. After dessert they had one more final round of dancing. Feeling their moment was cut short earlier, Maleficent and Diaval once again took to the hallway for a nice round of 'private' dancing.

The night flew by in the blink of an eye and soon it was midnight and the ball was over. Queen Aurora, Maleficent and Sir Joseph bidded the guests farewell as they slowly gathered their things and headed back to their homes. King John, Prince Philip and the Duchess were the only ones spending the night at the castle as they wanted to discuss business plans the following day.

Aurora ended up drenching 2 hankerchief's with the amount of tears that were shed as she was extremely happy with how the ball went and she was sad to see everyone go. Most of the people were happy to see that the new queen had such a big heart and made them feel very welcome.

Maleficent and Diaval were looking over their private suite. They had a king sized canopy bed with satin sheets. The room was decked out in mostly maroon and gold trim. It had a very royal touch to it. The room even had it's own private bathroom, something which was very unusual to both Maleficent and Diaval. There was a fireplace which Maleficent lit and some candles lit it was very romantic. Maleficent was looking in the mirror and sighed.

"I told Aurora I was going to hate taking this dress off and I don't want to."

"I am ok if you want to sleep in it."

"You do prefer me naked though, right?"

"Well, yes, I do prefer as much of our skin touching and these sheets feel incredible, they just glide over the skin."

Maleficent walked over and rubbed her hands on the sheets. "Hmmmm, this is a very nice material. It does feel nice on the skin. Ok, Diaval, come help me take this dress off."

The two undressed each other and piled their clothes up on the chair. They both climbed in the bed and cuddled up close to each other.

"This feels odd," Maleficent said. "I never slept in a bed or a castle like this before."

"It is a first for me too, but it is nice and warm. It is also very quiet in here."

"Yes, too quiet."

"Soooo, do you want to make some noise then?"

Maleficent grinned, "Why not?"

The two embraced each other and brought their lips together. Their kiss was long and passionate. After their lips separated, Diaval asked, "So, what would you like to do first?"


	17. Chapter 17: Wings For Life

Maleficent - Diaval Fanfic – I'm Alive by Raven Diablo

Chapter 17 – Wings For Life

A cool breeze blew into the bedroom and Maleficent woke up in bed with her arm draped around Diaval's waist and her head was on his chest. He was still sound asleep. It was very early in the morning and the sky was a purplish blue, it was going to be sunrise soon. The night before Maleficent felt uncomfortable with the castle bedroom being so closed in and quiet. Not like the open and airy feel of her home in the Rowan Tree. The room they were in was a stately corner bedroom with two balconies that had French doors and a single window on the far side. Before turning in for the the night Maleficent opened them all the way. Even though it was cold out, it was much better to be able to hear the sounds of the night. But even so, it wasn't her Moors. The castle was a strange place to sleep even though the bed did prove to be very warm and comfortable. The new environment behind closed doors did feel very secure. Maleficent and Diaval spent a rather nice evening of intimacy before finally falling asleep from sheer exhaustion. She sat up in bed to found her undergarment dangling in front of her face, it was hooked around one of her horns.

"Oh, Good Grief, how did that get up there?" She whispered.

But there was something odd about the castle that morning. Maleficent put on her satin robe and tip toed to the door to the bedroom. Diaval turned in the bed and grabbed a hold of one of the pillows and began to hug it. He began to mumble in his sleep.

"Oh, Maleficent, my love, you are so beautiful." He grabbed a hold of the pillow tighter and gave it a kiss.

Maleficent had to stifle a laugh, and then she exited the room. The castle was very quiet as everyone was still sleeping. Maleficent started down the first flight of stairs and came an intersection that was closed off from the coronation ball the night before. The barrier was low and Maleficent easily swung her long legs over it. From the intersection the hallway continued south, and also turned west.

Maleficent decided to take the longer hallway into the west wing of the castle. The west wing was very drab in comparison to the rest of the castle. It very much needed to be restored. There was evidence of the iron plates on the wall as they were ripped off and left large holes behind in the stonework. There was as small flight of stairs up at the end of the hall. Maleficent went up the stairs and was greeted by a large stained glass window that faced west at the end. There were only two rooms at the top of the stairs. One was open with the door slighly ajar and Maleficent wanted to go in and check it out, but then there was that pulling feeling again that drew her to the other room. Something was in that room. The door was closed and locked. There was a small guard's chair sitting outside the door. It was very well worn and appeared to have been used for a long time.

The door to the room looked very heavy and it appeared to be very thick when Maleficent lightly knocked on it. She had to be careful as the door was made of wood and iron and there were iron straps across the wood. She tried her magic on the lock of the door, but it didn't work as the lock mechanism was also made from iron.

"Damn!" She said. "I am going to ask Sir Joseph about this room, perhaps he might have a key for it."

As she started to walk away, she felt it again. Whatever it was, it didn't want her to leave the area and it still pulled her back to the room.

"There is something in there that I need to see for some reason," she thought.

She came to the door and again knocked on it, but much louder this time and she said in a soft voice, "Hello? Is anyone in there?"

The urge became very strong that she had to enter that room, but she couldn't. She wanted to pull on the handle, but that too was made of iron.

For some reason she said, "I will come back." The feeling suddenly subsided and went away. "Hmmm, that's odd," she said. Maleficent started back to her room all the while looking back at the strange area in the west wing. She would most certainly ask Sir Joseph about it when he awakened. She kept looking back towards the room even after she hopped back over the barrier. She wasn't looking when walking around the corner and she felt someone slam into her side knocking her off balance. That some grabbed a hold of her to prevent her from falling. Maleficent turned around to find it was the 'Little Man' from the following night.

He instantly let go and rapidly said, "Oh my! Oh my! I am so sorry your excellency, I didn't think anyone was already up this morning and I am late to meet up with Sir Joseph. I am sorry for touching you. Please. Please don't hurt me."

Maleficent put up her hands, "Stop! Slow down, my mind can barely keep up with your mouth."

"Yes, your excellency," Sir Kenneth slowed his voice down.

She looked impatiently but then said, "What is your name?"

"Sir Kenneth, Madame," he sounded worried. "I am sorry about last night, I was just drunk and wasn't thinking."

"Understood, I apologize as well. I went a little too far," Malficent said in a cool voice. "Sometimes I am a bit of a show off."

Sir Kenneth had a puzzled look as Maleficent apologized to him. He then said, "No, I shouldn't have said that and then spawed the rest of the fellows on. It was very ungentleman like of me."

"Yes, it was rather rude," She said with narrow eyes. "Well, I am curious as to why you questioned the Queen's and my authority in the first place."

"Well, your excellency, the guys were worried that with the town heading in the new direction of textiles that there would be very little to no work for us and that you would shut down the forge. He had a few drinks and that was when things got out of hand. I honestly only wanted them to laugh and really didn't mean any harm."

"Shut the forge down? That is nonsense. Where did you hear that?"

"It was just talk among those that work in the forging house."

"Well, Sir Kenneth, to put your mind at ease, I am not going to close the forge."

"Really?"

"Yes, as it is King John expressed an interest in opening a weapons and armor trade route overseas. I am working on a business arrangement with him in which we will supply him with quality weapons and armor while he supplies us with cloth and material. So no, I never had any intention of closing the forge. In fact the queen and myself will be coming up with newer, nicer looking armor designs."

"Oh, thank you, your excellency. You don't know how much this will mean to the fellows."

"Sir Kenneth?" Maleficent said in an stern voice, "Before you make the mistake of 'sounding off' ever again, if there is anything you hear that makes 'the fellows' uneasy, I am to hear of it first. This way I can separate the rumors from the facts. Is that clear?"

"Yes, your excellency," he said bowing.

"Unlike your prior rulers, the queen and myself want to see everyone here living together well and in harmony. I can asure you the changes here will be pleasant ones."

"Thank you again, your excellency. You are very kind. And again I am very sorry for questioning you and the rather rude remark I made about you being a...I can't say it."

Maleficent narrowed her eyes and nodded her head, "Very well, apology accepted, you are dismissed."

As Sir Kenneth turned away he said, "Oh, by the way. I love your beautiful legs."

Maleficent stifled a giggle putting her hand over her mouth and he smiled back.

'Hmmmm,' Maleficent thought, 'not such a bad guy after all."

Maleficent returned to the bedroom and sat down on the bed. She took her robe off and tossed it aside on the bed. She then started to turn back into the sheets.

"Hmmmmm," Diaval sighed in his sleep. His hand started to grope around as if trying to find something. Maleficent put her hand on his chest and his hand went right for hers. His fingers meshed with hers and he put a huge smile on his face.

Maleficent smiled at the sweet gesture and she snuggled up close to him and went back to sleep.

Later on that morning Diaval woke up holding on to Maleficent's arm. He looked towards her face to discover her sleeping soundly. He found himself looking at her arm on his chest. For some reason the veins on her arm were very pronounced. He began to run his fingers up and down every single vein on her hand and forearm. He concentrated on one very large vein that extended from the back of her hand all the way down her forearm.

"Hmmmmm, that tickles," Maleficent stirred awake.

She kept her eyes closed as Diaval then ran his finger softly on her cheekbone. She didn't say anything at first, but slowly smiled.

"That feels good. You have such a nice soft touch," she then said softly.

Diaval said, "I have no idea how late it is. I think we might have slept in."

Maleficent lifted her head up and had noticed the change in the sunlight were it fell on the floor in the room. Indeed it did look quite a bit later in the morning than when she got up earlier.

"Hard to tell in here", she said as she got up and put on her robe and walked to the doors that opened up to the balcony. She opened them up and walked out. A few seconds later she came back in.

"I just looked out to the Moors, it has to be late morning by now," she said.

"I hope we didn't miss breakfast."

"Me either, I am famished."

Maleficent and Diaval proceeded to get dressed opting for their regular Moors attire. No sooner than they opened the door to their room a servant came down the hall and greeted them.

"Your excellency, the queen is waiting to have breakfast with you in the dining room."

She escorted them downstairs to the dining room which was another room off the great hall and ballroom. Upon entering they were seated at a very long table that could seat 32 people. Only the far end was made up with three place settings. Two were right next to one another to the right of Queen Aurora, of whom sat at the very end of the table. She stood up as the servant sat them down by the table. Queen Aurora sat down bidding them a good morning and they did likewise. While the servants retreated to the back to prepare their breakfast, Aurora started up the morning's conversation.

"Sleep in today, did we?" Aurora said coyishly.

Maleficent said, "Yes, we did Aurora, I'm sorry."

Diaval chimed in too, "Yes, I too am very sorry."

"Uh, huh." Aurora said in a romantic way licking her lips and then she giggled.

Maleficent saw the look on Aurora's face and her eyes narrowed as she said, "You seem awfully interested in what Diaval and I do between sheets."

"I know, I shouldn't pry, but I am just interested in your happiness."

"Yes, we are very happy together if you need to know. You should be more interested in that Prince Philip than us."

Aurora had an ear to ear grin on her face and she started to play with her fork. Her face was glowing.

"My you seem to be all aglow this morning," Maleficent said, "What is on your mind?"

"Well, speaking of Prince Philip," Aurora led on.

Suddenly it hit Maleficent, "You two finally kissed?" Maleficent inquired.

"Yes! Yes!" Aurora exlaimed as she brought her arms to her chest and shook them in excitement.

"Well, Well, then. I will say...as you put it, details, my dear."

"Maleficent!" Diaval said in a shocked voice.

"What? Diaval, she only keeps asking us every time we get close, so it is only fair, this time I want to know," Maleficent said grinning and raising her eyebrows before taking a sip from her tea.

"Well, shortly after you two left that closet...well, I went back there to check it out. I saw the blankets and the bowl of grapes. Apparently Prince Philip followed me and wondered what I was doing in there. So we ended up sitting next to each other on the blanket and we fed each other some of the grapes. Our faces just came closer and closer and it...it just happened."

"Splendid, the boy finally came around. Congradulations, Beastie," Maleficent said happily, but then her face became more stern as she continued, "However, I am curious as to why you were poking around in that room."

"Uhhhhh," Aurora said as she began to wring her hands and she shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know really."

"Humm," Maleficent said as she smirked. She was ready to continue when the servants came out with breakfast.

After they were done with breakfast Maleficent called to one of the servants, "Can you please send for Sir Joseph, I would like a word with him."

The servant bowed and said, "Of course, your excellency."

Sir Joseph appeared a few minutes later, "You sent for me Madame Maleficent?"

"Yes, I have. This morning I went for a little stroll down the hall and became rather intrigued with the corridor that runs to the west."

"Oh, we have closed the west wing off since that part of the castle is still under renovations. You shouldn't be going down there as it is dangerous, your excellency," Sir Joseph informed.

"You keep forgetting, Sir Joseph, that I can handle myself."

"Of course, your excellency, I know you can. I am just saying as a precaution...please continue."

"What was that corridor used for?"

"Well, prior to King Stefan's reign that corrodor was used for the quarters of the first line of servants that served the King and Queen. Those rooms were a bit nicer than the other servants quarters and larger too. When King Stefan reigned, he didn't want any of the servants on the same floor as the main royal rooms. So that wing was unoffically closed off and became disused."

"There is a room at the top of the stairs at the end that has intrigued me, the one with the locked door."

"King Stefan converted that room to his study. It was far away from the rest of the castle where he wouldn't be disturbed." Sir Joseph informed.

"Oh? I would like to take a look inside. Can you get the key and open it for me?" Maleficent asked.

Sir Joseph's face contorted a bit as he replied, "Well, this is going to sound embarrassing, but I am lead to believe that we might have buried that key with King Stefan. I don't know if there is another key. I had asked Sir Mark as he made the lock for that room, but so far he hasn't found another key."

"I see. Perhaps the guard for that room might know something?"

"Perhaps, but he perished the night of the fight."

"Oh."

"Couldn't you open the lock using your magic?"

"No, I tried that already, the lock is made of iron."

"Well, I am also curious to what is in that room, can you break the door down using your magic?"

"If the door was purely wood, then yes, but the iron straps on it would block my magic as well," Maleficent said.

Diaval interjected, "May I see this room?"

Aurora added, "Yes, I would like to see it as well."

"Ok, your majesties. But all please be careful and follow directly behind me. The hall can be dangerous with the debris from the iron removal."

All got up and followed Sir Joseph to the west wing. Maleficent fetched her staff by the door and trailed a bit behind. Sir Joseph moved the barrier to the side and they all went down the west wing corridor and up the stairs to the door.

Maleficent turned to Diaval and said, "Is this the room you told me about?"

"Yes. It is the room that King Stefan would go to and hole himself up in. I watched from up there," Diaval said as he pointed to a small group of holes in the wall that lined the upper part of the window.

Maleficent examined the door running her hands inches from the iron bars. She could feel the searing heat coming from them. "Damn Iron!"

"Maleficent, my dear." Diaval said.

"Yes, Diaval?"

"The door is made of iron and wood, but the wall next to it is just stone."

Maleficent looked to Diaval with a grin, "Such a smart, bird, right you are."

"Everyone stand behind me, I believe Diaval has found a key."

"Uhhhh, your excellency, I don't think causing an explosion in here is a good idea," Sir Joseph sounded worried.

"Don't worry, I will _try_ not to make too much of a mess."

Maleficent raised her staff and aimed about a good foot away from the door's edges. A green beam of light eminated from her staff and slammed into the section of wall next to the door causing the stone to shatter on impact. Diaval sheiled Aurora from the debris that flew from the wall. She aimed lower and repeated sending another green beam to the lower part of the wall. Again the stones shattered. When she was finished she pulled her staff back up to her side. "Open Sesame," she said comically.

Sir Joseph looked around and there were bits and pieces of stone all over the hall.

"Not much of a mess, huh?" he said.

"Ooops! Sorry," Maleficent replied sarcastically. She then waved her hand and a wind blew through the hall and swept up all stones in a neat pile by the door.

"Better?" she asked Sir Joseph.

"Much", he replied. "Thank you."

Everyone proceeded to look into the room through the new doorway Maleficent made. It was dark inside so Sir Joseph grabbed a torch off the wall, lit it and then entered the room first to light a chandelier that hung from the ceiling. Once lit he gave the go ahead for everyone else to enter.

The room was sparcely furnished with a desk on the same side of the wall as the door was. There was a drafting table to the left and a fireplace to the right. In the middle of the room was a large chair that faced a tall cabinet that was at the far end of the room. The tall cabinet was covered with a black blanket. The room had no windows, hence to why it was initially so dark.

Maleficent was the last to enter the room and as soon as she looked up to the tall object, she got that feeling as she did earlier and she kept staring at the cabinet.

Diaval, noticed his lover's eyes were trained on the cabinet. He walked over to it and yanked the black cover off and tossed it on the drafting table.

"Oh My Goodness! OH! My wings!" Maleficent cried out as she ran to the cabinet and placed her hands on the cabinet, without paying attention to where she placed her hands. As soon as she touched the cabinet, she felt a familiar searing pain in her hands. She jumped back and yelled out, "Ouch!"

The cabinet was made from iron and glass. The iron formed a criss crossing pattern over the glass and she inadvertently placed her hands right on the iron.

"Be careful!" Sir Joseph said.

"Are you alright?" Diaval asked.

"Yes, I will be fine," Maleficent said as she rubbed her hands.

Diaval kept looking at the cabinet's contents in awe. The majestic pair of wings were very large and nearly identical in appearance to his own wings when he's a dragon, just as Maleficent described them to him. The wings were all black and came up to a curved horn at the top. The feathers were very large on the bottom.

Maleficent found she could put her hands on the glass portion of the cabinet without being hurt. Tears started to well up in her eyes as she turned to Diaval, "Honey, they been here all this time."

Aurora didn't say a word but stood in shock as she watched the drama unfold before her.

Maleficent started to become weak in the knees and she slumped down to the floor. Diaval ran over and helped her back up.

"Thank you, my love," she said. "That bastard kept them here as some kind of war trophy, as some kind of conquest against me."

Aurora's chin wrinkled and bottom lip began to quaver as she ran over to Maleficent and the two embraced. Maleficent buried her face into Aurora's hair. She then held her hand out for Diaval to take. He took her hand and she pulled him in closer to her.

"Oh Godmother," Aurora looked up to her eyes and they were closed.

"Perhaps I should leave you three alone?" Sir Joseph asked.

Diaval turned to Sir Joseph and nodded, 'yes.'

As Sir Joseph left the room. Maleficent looked up with tears in her eyes.

"I felt something funny this morning when I woke up and I followed that feeling here. It was as if they were calling me." Maleficent looked up at her wings and then said, "Hold on."

Maleficent broke the embrace and then raised her hands towards the cabinet. A red glow eminated from them and she moved the red glow from the top of the cabinet down. But before she could get to the bottom, her breathing became very heavy and eratic and once again she became week in her knees, but both Diaval and Aurora kept her from falling this time.

Aurora said in a worried tone, "What is it Godmother, are you ok?"

"There is magic still in my wings. Somehow after all these years magic is still in them."

"Does that mean they are still alive."

"I don't know, maybe. I only can tell there are traces of magic in them."

Diaval brought the chair over and he and Aurora helped her into the chair.

"Diaval, please go to the Moors and fetch Robin, he would know for sure."

With a wave of her hand, Maleficent turned Diaval back into a raven and he flew out of the room and out the familiar opening he would watch the room from. He went back to the Moors to seek out Robin.

"Aurora, my dear, I am going to stay here and wait for Robin, you don't have be here with me," Maleficent said her voice racked with emotion.

"Nonsense Godmother, I am going to sit and wait with you," Aurora said as she went outside to get the guards chair. She planted it right next to Maleficent and sat down on the chair and leaned her head into Maleficent's chest.

Maleficent didn't say anything, but she stroked Aurora's golden hair with her left hand. The feeling of hair running through her fingers was very soothing. Aurora must have been still very tired from the activities of the prior evening and she quickly drifted off to sleep.

"Poor little Beastie, too much excitement."

Maleficent looked around and everything was quiet, no one was around. She looked at her wings and could feel her eyes welling up. But this time she didn't hold back as she let the tears ran down her face.

She whispered through her tears, "My lovelies, my wings, I thought for sure I would never see you two again. I can't believe that you are still here after all these years."

Aurora looked so content sleeping with her head on her chest, Maleficent turned her head to the side and layed it down on Aurora's head and soon she too fell asleep. It seemed like she was only out for a few minutes when she heard voices coming up the hall. Aurora was still sleeping and she nudged her awake.

"I believe they are here, Beastie," she whispered in her ear.

As Aurora stretched and yawned, Diaval flew into the room. Maleficent waved her hand and he turned back into a man.

"Maleficent, my love, I did manage to find Robin and I brought him back here. They are coming up the hall now."

"Splendid, Splendid."

Robin flew into the room first and was trailed by Sir Joseph.

"Good afternoon your majesties," Robin bowed and then flew towards the cabinet.

"Good afternoon Robin," both ladies said together.

Robin hovered in front of the cabinet with his arms on his waist and he said, "I don't believe it. I _can't_ believe it. Diaval brought me here to the castle and Sir Joseph told me why and I just couldn't believe it. Yet there they are."

"Good afternoon your excellencies," Sir Joseph said as he entered the room. Then he turned to Robin and said, "Robin, let me continue,"

"Oh, yes please do."

Sir Joseph said continuing the story he was telling Robin as they made their way through the castle, "He would come into this room and stay here for hours on end. Sometimes he wouldn't even bathe and he would sit in there and have is food brought up to him here. He would never let anyone past the first corner of the entry either. Albeit, now Madame Maleficent blew that part away. Once I did enter the room fully as I was puzzled that he didn't want to see his wife, Queen Leila as she lay dying. She insisted on seeing him and I thought it was odd that he wouldn't honor his wifes request. I heard him shuffle around in the room and shortly after I just entered. I didn't see anything as he just finished covering the cabinet. He was furious with me though. The Queen died while he stayed holed up in this room.

"That is so awful," Aurora said as she turned to Maleficent. "He let mom die alone."

"No, not alone, my Queen," Sir Joseph let out a sigh. "There was something I didn't tell you that first night you were here."

"I was so furious with King Stefan, that I retreated to the queen's chamber and stayed with her myself. There was a point she became so dilerious that she couldn't tell if I was King Stefan or not. The King's and my voice do happen to be very similar as we are both from Scotland. In her dying moments, I commited a sin and posed as the King and offered her my blessing.

"You see, my Queen, your mom was different, she was loving and caring. But your father broke her heart and mistreated her."

Maleficent sneared as she interrupted, "Sounds all too familiar."

Sir Joseph then continued, "I tried to console your mom whenever your father was mean to her, but soon I developed feelings for her, but I stayed strong and kept them to myself as I am head of the guards and never wanted to loose your father's trust. I cared about her. Her last words were 'I love you.' I said 'I love you to her.' but the thing was, I really meant it." Sir Joseph said as his eyes started to become glazed over. He tried his best to keep his emotions in check.

Aurora ran over to Sir Joseph and wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh...Oh! My Queen! Thank you. I...I was preparing to be punished."

"Punished!" Aurora exlaimed, "You should be rewarded. At least someone who cared for my mom was with her when she died. She died knowing someone that cared for her was by her side."

Robin perked up and yelled over to Maleficent, "It's sealed! Don't ask me how they did it, but this cabinet is vacuum sealed. I see the sealing tap right here and the mark where the spigot was. They pumped the air out of the glass chamber and sealed it off.

"And the relevance of this is?" Maleficent inquired.

"With the air sucked out of the cabinet, the wings are preserved. They wouldn't deteriorate or age in time But after all these years, I wonder if the seal still held," Robin pondered.

"I scanned the cabinet earlier and I detected traces of magic still in the wings. I didn't know what to make of it and that is why I sent for you," Maleficent said.

Robin let out a breath and then scanned his hand over the cabinet. A red glow eminated from his hand in a similar manner as Maleficent did earlier. After a couple passes across the cabinet, Robin, all of a sudden shot straight up into the air nearly hitting the ceiling, yelling, "YES! YES!" When Robin came back down he sat on the top edge of the cabinet and crossed his arms and legs and had a huge grin on his face.

"You are right my lady. Thar be magic still left in them thar wings," Robin jokingly remarked with a pirate's accent.

"And?" both Maleficent and Diaval said together.

"And? And! AND?!" Robin repeated excitedly, "That means there is still life in those wings and there exists a good possibility that I might be able to reattach them and you can fly again."

"WHAT!" Maleficent, Diaval, and Aurora shouted at once.

Maleficent held the back of one hand to her forehead and she had to sit back down as she was growing a bit faint. Her hands began to shake.

"Oh, to fly again." Maleficent said as she reached her shaking hands to her cheeks.

"My dear?" Diaval asked.

At first Maleficent didn't say anything, but when Diaval walked by her side she wrapped one arm around his waist. She lifted her head up and their eyes met. "I'm ok, Diaval," she finally said. "Just a bit shocked." Diaval could see her eyes welling up, but she fought hard to hold back her tears. She didn't want them to see her cry she leaned her head into Diavals stomach.

Her eyes looked to Robin and he flew down closer to her. Almost in a whisper asked the faerie, "Robin, a...are you sure you can do this?"

"I believe so," Robin reassured, "Granted, I never did something like this before, but I should be able to."

The hope on Maleficent's face began to fade.

"I mean I have reattached wings on faeries before, but not on a faerie as big as you and your wings...they are really big! Also, the wings I reattached were fresh broken. These wings have been stored like this for 17 years. In the very least, it will take quite a bit of magic to get the wings acclimated with your body again. Hopefully you will heal properly and not get an infection. But I think it can be done with minimal risks to yourself, myself as well as well as any other faeries assisting in the procedure."

"Other faeries?" Aurora inquired.

"Yes, of course," Robin answered. "I can't do this on my own. It's too big of a job."

Diaval spoke and said, "I don't think you should go through with it, Maleficent, especially if there is anything to risk. I don't want to end up loosing you or Robin or anyone else. I mean I can carry you as a dragon if you want fly, really I don't mind, I enjoy it."

"I know you do, Diaval, I know you mean well, but if there is just a slight chance that I can fly on my own again...I...I just want my wings back. They mean so much to me. Those wings are my freedom and my strength. With my wings, you will see me whole, you will see me complete. I will be able to properly display for you."

"I love you as you are, Maleficent," Diaval said in a heartfelt manner, "I can't risk losing you, now that we finally confessed our love for one another. You display well without your wings. Your beautiful as you are."

"Awwww," Aurora said, "That is so sweet of you to say Diaval."

Maleficent turned more into Diaval's stomach as she could feel herself becoming warm in the face. She knew she was blushing and didn't want the others to see. But she smiled up at Diaval and whispered, "Thank you, Diaval"

Aurora moved over to Maleficent's other side and said, "Godmother, I don't want risk it either. I still need you and your guidance."

Maleficent turned to Robin again, "What do you need to know to make the risks as minimal as possible."

"Ok, I am painting a worse drawing on the risks, but I do like to ebb on the side of safety. But I would say that the more high healers we have, the better the chances for success. But as far as I know the only high healers are myself, Knotgrass, Flittle, and Thistletwit. That is four, which I believe will be more than enough.

"Five including myself and certainly I am sure I count for more than one," Maleficent added.

"No!" Robin blurted out, "Even though you are a high healer and have more power than the four of us combined, your body will be taxed with healing and more then likely using your magic any time during the procedure will hamper the healing process. You cannot use your magic in anyway. You would risk great pain upon yourself. But I must say you will have great pain to begin with during the attachment process.

"Oh," Maleficent hung her head low again.

"Given the time the wings have been in this cabinet, your body might try to reject them. So much magic will be needed to match the bond from your stumps to the wings. Once that procedure is done, your body will accept the wings and then can heal them on it's own. But it will require a lot of magic," Robin said shaking his head.

"And the concern to using a lot of magic is?" Diaval asked.

"Well, what you may not know, Diaval my friend, is that if a faerie depletes his or her magic completely, they will die." 

Aurora's, Maleficent's and Diaval's eyes widened.

"You see, a faerie's life is not measured by age as it is with other life forms, such as humans." Robin continued. Faeries age as their magic depletes over their life. A faerie that doesn't abuse his or her magic can live to be hundreds of years old. But a foolish faerie that squanders his or her magic or over uses it, will have a much shorter life span. A faerie such as Maleficent, here, could live well past 600 years. Given that figure Maleficent is currently 35 years old, she's still a toddler by these figures.

Both Diaval and Aurora stifled a giggle. Even Sir Joseph turned around to stifle a giggle.

Maleficent didn't find it amusing and shot up from her chair and narrowed her eyes. "I beg your pardon!" she snapped. "I am full grown adult faerie."

"Yes, yes. I know that," Robin said, "but you are an extremely young faerie and I couldn't resist the joke."

"So if I am young and have so much power and magic in me, why can't I assist? I still don't understand why I can't use my power to help."

"All faerie's can regenerate their magic to to a certain degree. It is like healing," Robin described. "Have you noticed that when you use a good deal of your magic, that you become fatigued and tired afterwards?"

"Yes."

"Well, that is when your body is regenerating magic. Now if your body is doing that AND healing itself at the same time, the healing part usually takes a back row seat."

Robin shook his head and waved his hand back and forth, "We can't have that. Your body has to be focused on healing otherwise you will bring great pain on yourself. Or worse you can get an infection."

"I believe I would like to give it a shot," Maleficent added. "The pain can't be more than when that bastard ripped them off my body to begin with."

"Oh?" Robin dipped his head, "That's the way you think it works? Oh no, my lady, the pain will be far worse to reattach them."

Maleficent looked at her wings in the cabinet and swallowed hard a couple of times. She reached for Diaval's hand and held it tight.

"I still want to go through with it." Maleficent said, "Will you do it?"

"Me? Yes, of course I will do it, but this decision is not mine alone. I have to disuss this with the three ladies first. If any one of them doesn't want to do this, then it is off, we need four high healer faeries to pull this off safely."

Robin began to fly off.

"Where are you going, Robin?" Aurora asked.

"Well, as I said, my queen, I have to speak to Knotgrass, Flittle and Thistletwit to see if they will do this for Maleficent."

Once again Maleficent hung her head low as she knew she wasn't on the greatest terms with the three faeries. She called them traitors and backstabbers when they sought asylum with King Stefan. It made her very angry. She thought it was very doubtful that any of them would assist.

As Robin started to fly off, Maleficent called to him, "Wait, Robin."

Robin turned back around, "Yes, my lady?"

"Where will you do this?"

"Most likely here at the castle, the wings are already here. I also need to speak to whomever created this cabinet as the proper way to depressurize it. Simply breaking the glass could damage the wings as the glass will implode inward."

"Oh, that cabinet is probably Sir Mark's creation," Sir Joseph intervened. "He's the ironsmith, slash, glass expert here. I can get him for you if you wish. He can explain how that cabinet was put together."

"Hold that thought," Robin said, "I need to get back to see the three pixies. Without their concent this project is off anyway."

"Robin, lets all go back together," Maleficent said. "I have a funny feeling I am going to do something I hate."

"And what is that?" Robin said with his hands on his hips.

Maleficent waved her index finger and middle finger for Robin to come closer. Robin flew close to her mouth. Maleficent whispered in his ear, "For what I have done, I think I am going to have to do some serious butt kissing to those three."

Robin flew to Maleficent's ear and whispered back, "Yes, I think you will."

Robin then flew over to Sir Joseph, "Should I get the approval of the three faeries I will be going over the particulars with you as to what it is that I need. A special bed or harness will need to be built to both hold the wings in place and Maleficent down in a specific position. A fairly large room will be needed."

"Yes, as you wish Sir Robin," Sir Joseph replied.

"Sir Robin, huh?" Robin said with an impressed look on his face as he turned to Maleficent and Diaval. "I kind of like the sound of that. Ok, lets go."

Late that afternoon just as the sun was starting to set, Robin, Aurora, Maleficent, Diaval and the three faeries gathered at the Faerie Mound by Maleficent's throne. Maleficent just finished building a small fire on the side so they could see clearer as it became dark. Aurora, Diaval and Maleficent sat on the ground just in front of the throne and the four faeries sat across from them on a few stones Diaval brought over for them to sit on. Robin was the leader of the meeting and explained what needed to be done. After Robin spoke, it was Maleficent's turn to make her peace with the three pixies.

Knotgrass flew forward with a sad look on her face, "My dear Maleficent. You were correct in calling us traitors, but I alone take that blame. Flittle and Thistletwit were just following my lead. It was really my desire to live at the castle and I really didn't know what I was getting myself or my friends into. King Stefan was awful to us and did not treat us well. We...well, I regret running out on you. I was just...frightened of what you became and I feared for my life as well as my friends. That was why I suggested to them that we leave and we did. But all the while I questioned if I did the right thing and I know we...or rather I didn't."

Maleficent swallowed hard, "Knotgrass I would have never caused or cause harm to you or your friends. Granted I wasn't very nice to you. I have made many mistakes in the past that I terribly regret and a good many of them were with you. I have lost your trust, I have called you names, played jokes on you and I have belittled your abilities in front of the other fae folk. I put my selfishness and my revenge above all and ignored my true friends. I forced you away from your home. Even though you are now back, I formally invite you back home here on the Moors and I very sorry for what I have done and I am no longer that woman I was and I will never be that woman again."

"So then," Knotgrass said as she held out her hand, "Water under the bridge?"

Maleficent took her hand and shook, "Water under the bridge."

Knotgrass looked back to Flittle and Thistletwit and they nodded. "Well then, my dear Maleficent, we are in. Let's put your wings back where they belong."

Everyone cheered and smiled.

Robin took center stage and said, "Ok, so for the most part this should go without a hitch, but there are dangers, but as long as everyone follows my instructions this should go smooth.

"So with that out of the way, lets have something to eat and call it a night. I will go to the castle tomorrow and discuss the particulars with Sir Joseph."

Maleficent put both her hands over her nose and mouth. Her eyes started to well up. "I...I don't don't know what to say to all of you except thank you so much!"

Robin flew over to Maleficent and said, "Now now, don't thank us yet, you still have to get through the procedure. Your big rule will be to stay relaxed and don't use your magic. We have to get your body tuned to healing and focused on that."

Maleficent smiled and then placed both her hands around Robin's small waist and drew him close to her face. She then gave him a kiss on the forehead and placed him on her shoulder.

"Oh! Whoa! Gee!" He looked to Diaval, "The beautiful Maleficent kissed...me!"

Robin was all giddy and light headed and passed out on her shoulder. Everyone just giggled and laughed.

Knotgrass looked to Maleficent with narrow eyes and her arms crossed on her chest, "It was you that caused that rainstorm in the cottage, didn't you?"

Maleficent raised her eyebrows and had a guilty look on her face and said, "I hope you are not still upset about that are you?"

Knotgrass smirked a bit and shook her head, "I had a funny feeling..." she then laughed.

Maleficent giggled and said, "I am sorry, I know, I been a bad girl."

"I owe you a thunderstorm in _your_ house." She said giggling through her words before bursting out laughing.

Soon everyone else joined into the laugher. The evening ended on a nice high with everyone having a good time.

The following day Diaval and Robin met with Sir Joseph and Sir Mark and they were going over the particulars on how to take the wings out of the cabinet. Robin also needed a platform built that would hold the wings into position on Maleficent's back. The platform would have to be strong enough to hold Maleficent in place and also prevent her hands from moving so she couldn't use her magic if she wanted to.

"Why are we going crazy with tying Maleficent down, this thing sounds like some torture device and I don't want to see her getting hurt?" Diaval sounded worried.

"Diaval, my friend, I am doing this for a reason. I know Maleficent well by now and I am going to try my best to make sure she doesn't try to use her magic during this procedure. If she does it will undermine our work. Her wings may not heal properly and/or she will bring great pain during the healing process. I am doing as you and she asked and that is to minimize the risks. If she isn't able to use her magic for the whole process, then that is minimizing the risks and will ensure the wings will heal properly without infection."

"Ok, Robin, you are the 'doctor' here. So I am trusting you. If that is best for her then I will not question it any further."

"Yes, it is. I know you are not going to like the sight of her in that contraption, but it is for a reason."

"Robin," Sir Mark chimed in. You are specifying leather straps that would hold down the weight of 3 large men? She is just a single women. Is this figure correct?"

"Sir Mark, may I stress the fact that during this procedure she has to remain completely immobile. May I also point out that this woman isn't like your human female counterparts. She is a warrior faerie and when her adreneline goes up, her strength multiplies, particularly in her arms. You saw what happened to King Stefan, right?

"No, I wasn't present but Sir Joseph told me she shattered his skull with just her hand, no magic." Sir Mark said. "I didn't really believe it.

"Well, believe it. That woman is a force to be reckoned with when she gets mad."

"Alright, if you say so."

"When can you have this built?" Robin asked.

"Probably a couple of weeks. Less if I had help"

"No, that isn't good," Robin shook his head. "I will see if I can get some faeries up here to help you out in constructing this. With their magic they could have this assembled in a couple of days, if that.

A couple days later the contraption was completed to Robin's specifications. Sir Mark, Robin, the three pixies, Maleficent, Diaval, and Queen Aurora were all gathered in the largest holding room of the dungeon where the massive contraption stood. Sir Mark was in the middle of explaining how the contraption worked to Robin towards the side of the room.

Maleficent, Aurora and Diaval trained their eyes on the large contraption in the middle of the room. It consisted of a large flat wooden slab of a platform set vertically at approximately a 75 degree angle. The slab had a large 'v' shaped notch in the top center. Just below the 'v' notch there was small frame that contained a pillow. Running down the platform there were a series of thick leather straps, with the greatest number going around the arms of the occupant. There was a rather unusual box on each side at the bottom of the series of arm straps. It appeared the hands would fit in these boxes. The vertical center of the platform had a thick animal hide blanket that ran from the v cutout down to the bottom. Slightly below where the pillow was located there was a trapezoid shaped cutout. The platform appeared to be cut in half horizontally from this trapezoid cutout with the top half held to the bottom half with a series of large bolts. Running through the center underside of the platform was a large shaft with a wheel mounted on the left side. The shaft was mounted to the lower section of the platform and was just under large iron plates that held the two halves together. Under the platform there was a large iron pipe that ran vertically on each side in which all the straps from above ran through slits in the platform and were tied to the pipes with heavy bolts. The pipe itself was supported by three large wooden supports. There was a step at the bottom to make it easier for one to climb up and into the foot rests of the platform.

Dominating the room were Maleficent's wings which were suspended from the ceiling by several ropes suspended from a track like mechanism from above. The wings were angled towards the middle center of the bottom of the platform The ends that were severed appeared to have some kind of viscous gel over them.

Everyone stood in awe at the massive wings that were suspended over head.

There was a short table placed in the rear of the room about three feet away from the back of the platform. On the table Flittle and Thistletwit were already present and magical green whisps ran from their fingers to the base of the wings.

Diaval shuddered and grimaced as he said,"I don't like this thing one bit. It looks like a torture device."

"Hush now, Diaval, you are not the one that has to lay in the thing," Maleficent said in a snippy voice. "I know it is for my own good and afterwards I will have my wings again. So if I must be strapped in that thing, then so be it."

Robin, and Knotgrass flew in and landed on the table in the back.

"Ok, listen up everyone, this is very important," Robin called out and everyone followed him to the small table in the back. "I am only going to go over this once and I am expecting my instructions to be followed to the letter. With the wings out of the cabinet, we have less than an hour to get these attached. Flittle and Thistletwit have already been conditioning the wings for the reattachment and building up the existing magic power within them." Robin paused as he flew to the front of the platform. Everyone except Flittle and Thistletwit followed.

"My lady, you will be step onto the platform and rest your head on the pillow. Your horns will pass through the 'v' notch on top and your wing stumps will be lined up with the opening below the head rest. The table will then be tilted 45 degrees back and the top rig will move the suspended wings towards your back. From there, the four of us will take over with the attachment process," Robin paused again when he continued with more of a stern voice and appeared to address everyone., "It has to be made clear that this process is not to be interrupted in any way. My lady, you are not to attempt to use your power in anyway. Your body must concentrate on healing. I believe this should go without a hitch if everyone listens and does their part. As a precaution, I am going to magically lock the door to this room."

"Why are you locking the door?" Maleficent asked.

Robin then lowered his voice and approached closer to Maleficent. "The reason why I am locking the door, is that this procedure will be painful. I don't want Diaval or anyone else to come barging in here and interrupting the process."

"Don't worry, I will not yell out then."

"Always strong, my lass, but I am not going to sugar coat it, you _will_ be in pain, but if everything goes well, the pain should subside within a short time afterwards."

"Robin I am very self conscious about my back, let alone my stumps being exposed."

Robin held his hand over his face and then said in an annoyed voice, "Maleficent! It is only going to be for a short time. Once your wings are attached your conscience will be be restored and you can feel free to run around this place naked should you please to do so."

Maleficent crossed her arms on her chest and narrowed her eyes, she was clearly annoyed with Robin's remark.

"Excuse me?" she hissed.

"Ok, Ok, I'm sorry, my lady. If it makes you feel better only us four and yourself will be in this room, no one else. But please let us continue, the longer we talk here, the longer Flittle and Thistletwit have to maintain the magic levels on the wings when they need that power with the reattachment process. So please!"

"Alright, Robin," Maleficent said placing her hands on her waist.

"Now climb onto the platform and we will get you strapped in," he said and then turned to Sir Mark and Queen Aurora. "I would like to ask if you both would leave the room at this time."

Sir Mark and Queen Aurora nodded and Sir Mark esorted the queen out of the room.

Maleficent was wearing one of her older moor's gowns which already had openings in the back from when she had wings. Aurora assisted Maleficent in modifying the skirt portion of the gown to have flowing pant legs much like her riding outfit given her legs would also be strapped in. The sleeves were also made shorter to just barely covering her shoulders. She was wearing a feathered shrug that curved down to a 'v' point on her back which covered up her stumps. She looked down at herself and had a sad look on her face. Diaval noticed and then whispered in her ear.

"Don't worry, my love, you look great to me," Diaval said.

"Thank You, Diaval, you always have nice words to say to me and I am going to need them now," she said with a sigh. Her breathing became more deep as she approached the platform.

Diaval looked to Robin, "I would like to stay with her in the room to comfort her."

Robin shook his head and said, "No, I don't want any possibility that the process should be interrupted. The slightest interruption could mean great pain for Maleficent as she heals. I am trying to avoid that at all costs, " he paused and continued, "But do stay nearby outside. I _might_ need you."

Maleficent leaned back into the contraption and placed her head on the pillow. Diaval stepped up on to the platform and assisted Maleficent in removing her shall. Due to the angle of the platform he was leaning into her body has reached around to remove the shall. Maleficent followed Diaval's face feeling his body move on top of hers. When he had the shall removed he proped his body up and looked straight into Maleficent's eyes with a very soft touching look and with an equally soft voice said, "Good luck my love."

Maleficent looked back with sad eyes and said, "Oh, Diaval." She threw her arms around him pulling him down to her mouth and they locked lips. She right away pushed her tongue into his mouth curling her tongue around his.

"Hmmmm." Diaval let out a sigh.

Robin's and Knotgrass's eyes opened wide. Robin mouthed the word "Wow!" to Knotgrass.

After they kissed Maleficent just kept holding Diaval's head and kept looking deep into his eyes.

Diaval whispered very very softly to Maleficent so only she could hear, "I'm scared."

Maleficent pulled his ear down to her mouth, "Don't be my love, I will make it through this, don't worry."

"Diaval!" Robin shouted, "Time's Ticking!"

"Oh, I am sorry Robin."

"Yes, my friend, now let me get her strapped in," Robin said. With a twist of his hands a red whisp came forth and split up to all the straps on the platform. The boxes by the wrist straps opened up, and inside were 5 separate compartments in each, one for each finger."

"My lady, place your hands into the boxes a finger in each compartment."

Maleficent did so and once they were in, the boxes slammed shut and a pair of wrist straps came around her wrists and pulled themselves taut and buckled themselves up. Straps then came around each of her shoulders and pulled them down, followed by a strap came around each of her upper arms. They pulled down hard. Maleficent could see the indentations the straps were making on her upper arms.

"Ouch! Robin, that's a bit tight."

"I am sorry, my lady, but I can't have any appreciable movement from your body, particularly your arms and back."

A large strap came across her waist and pulled down hard as well.

"Uhhh! Robin! Please leave me some room to breathe!"

Robin let up a bit on the waist strap, then two very wide straps came over each of her thighs and a final set came around her ankles. Diaval noticed the indentations the straps were making on her upper arms.

"Robin, do the straps have to be that tight?" Diaval asked.

"Yes, unfortunately."

Robin gave one more wave of his hand and a small leather strap with a small round disk on it ran across Maleficent's chin. She shot a puzzled look to Robin.

"It is if you have too much pain. Lower your chin and take the leather disk into your mouth to bite down on."

Maleficent nodded that she understood. Her chest began to rise and fall more rapidly.

"Diaval, use the wheel and tilt the table back. I will let you know when to stop."

Diaval started to crank the large wheel to the left and slowly the angle changed on the platform. When he got to about a 45 degree angle Robin told him to stop. With a wave of his hand, a latch sound could be heard under the platform as it locked into place. Robin waved his hand towards the rigging that was holding the wings up. He slowly brought the wings closer and closer to the stumps on Maleficent's back.

Maleficent could feel the ends of the cold wings lining up perfectly with her stumps. She couldn't help but look side to side and could see the wings extend out from under the platform and she could envision them as if they were already attached to her back. The feeling became overwhelming that she was about to be finally reunited with her wings after more than 17 years.

"Ok, Diaval, thank you for your help. I am going ask you to leave now so the ladies and I can do our work."

Diaval nodded his head and looked up to Maleficent one more time and blew her a kiss. Maleficent puckered up and blew a very seductive kiss to Diaval.

"I'll be outside, my dear. Please pull through for me."

"I will, don't worry, my honey. We will be together soon."

Diaval started to walk to the door. As he reached for the handle, Robin said, "Diaval, I really do envy you. I am very much amazed at the strong bond that you formed with Maleficent. I will try my best that she gets though this with as little pain as possible."

"Robin, if there is any risk to her life, I want you to stop. I don't care what she says, you stop. If I must I will even get Queen Aurora to give the order. Both the queen and myself want...no need her alive."

"Diaval, I helped raise that woman from a baby girl and by gosh, she is not going to lose her life by my hand. I reasure you that if it ever came to that, which it will not, I would put my own life on the line and you have my word on that."

"Robin, I don't want it to come down to that."

"It will not, but I am just saying that if it did, you can rest assure that I would not let that happen."

"Understood," Diaval paused as he started to open the door and he turned one more time around, "I have your word now, she will be safe."

"Absolutely," Robin said as he pushed the door closed. A whisp of red came from his hands as the door made a click sound locking itself.

Robin then flew over to Maleficent's face, "Are you ready to do this?"

"Yes, Robin. But what did Diaval say to you?"

"Don't worry, it is just being fussy and overly concerned for your safely. I told him you will be fine."

As Robin finished what he was saying he couldn't help but lay a hand on Maleficent's cheek and smiled.

She smiled back.

"I have always enjoyed spending time with you, watching you grow up. It is something special that I would never forget."

"Robin? Is there something you are keeping from me?"

"No, it was just something I wanted to say."

"Well, thank you for the kind words."

Suddenly Robin just flew over closed his eyes and gave her a solid kiss on her bottom lip.

"Robin! Wha...Why? Why did you to do that?"

"I...I always wanted to. Being that now you are tied up and can't turn me into a toad, I figured it was the perfect opportunity."

"Robin! That is taking advantage of me!"

"C'mon, I am trying to do something special for you. It was just a little stolen kiss."

Malficent looked at Robin with narrow eyes, but then gave him a little smirk.

Knotgrass then flew out from behind the platform and right up to Robin.

"What is going on up here! We are waiting for you!"

"Yes, Yes, quite right," he agreed. He then turned one more time to Maleficent, "Next time I will face you, you will have your wings.

He then flew over the contraption and met up with the three ladies.

"Ok, ladies, everyone take a deep breath, it's showtime!" Robin said rubbing his hands together.

"Flittle, Thistletwit, you keep conditioning the wings. Knotgrass, you and I will work on the junction."

Flittle and Thistletwit started first with their blue and gree whisps conditioning the area by the edge of the wings, burning off the gel. Knotgrass and Robin let out whisps of red which began to knumb Maleficent's stumps a bit. The magic whisps were emitting a low frequency static sound. Robin waved his hand up and inched the wing's slightly forward so they were resting on her stumps.

Maleficent then heard Robin call out to her, "Ok, we numbed the area a bit, but it will still hurt some. Remember to bite on the disc if the pain becomes too much. OK?"

"Yes, Robin, go ahead and...and Thank You all for doing this for me."

"You are very welcome."

"Now ladies! Robin called out." The magic whisps stepped a notch in pitch.

Maleficent began to feel a slow burning sensation starting at the lower part of her stumps. It felt like the night she backed right up into the iron plate on the wall just before she confronted Stefan. She could feel the pain start to creep up higher and start to become more intense. She started to close her eyes really tight and she began to think to herself, "Oh, Oh my! Oh does this hurt! Don't cry out Mal, stay strong it is just a little pain.

About halfway up her stumps, the pain became excruciating to the point where it felt like an iron knife was being dragged up her stumps.

At three quarters of the way up, Robin was surprised that he wasn't hearing anything. At first he was afraid that perhaps Maleficent might have passed out and that wouldn't be good.

"My lady? Are you alright?"

"Yes! Oh!" her answer was racked with emotion. Robin knew she must be in great pain but holding it back.

"Oh, the poor dear, she is trying hard to be such a soldier. A human man would be brought to tears and bawling like a baby by now."

Maleficent's eyes were tightly shut and she began to sway her head from side to side. Her breathing became erratic. As she could feel the burning sensation reach the top of her stumps, her whole back felt like someone put a burning hot metal plate against her back. She thought to herself, 'Oh my Oh my, Robin was right this is hurting so much! I never felt this kind of pain before.'

"Ahhhhhh!" she called out a little bit, but not too loud.

Soon the wings were attached, but a pulling sensation came over her on top of the burning sensation. It felt as if someone was pulling her stump bones out of her back. She could feel herself get warm and start to perspire.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" She exclaimed but still softly between breaths. She was breathing very rapidly now.

Soon the pain didn't intensify anymore and the magic force died down a bit.

Flittle said, "Robin, Thistletwit and I are starting to get very tired. Don't forget we started to use our magic much earlier."

"Well, we are almost there. All we have to do is connect the nerve endings. The poor dear is really going to go through pain then."

He called back tot he others. "It is safe to pause here for a moment. You two rest up a bit, I am going to have a word with Knotgrass privately before we continue."

Robin and Knotgrass went off in a far corner out of sight and earshot of the others.

Maleficent noticed that the magic stopped. She thought to herself, 'Could they be finished? That was fast. But I don't feel anything but pain on my stumps.' She then called out, "Robin? Are we done."

"Give me a moment, I will be right there," Robin replied.

However, it was a VERY long moment that went by, but Maleficent thought that perhaps it was the pain that made time seem like it was going by very slowly. But Robin did come around back to Maleficent's face.

"Oh dear, you are starting to sweat. How do you feel."

"Robin! I feel like someone is cooking the flesh off my back. How much longer?"

"No, we are about halfway through. The critical part comes now when we have to rebuild the nerve endings. This will be the really painful part."

Maleficent threw her head back realizing that she is going to experience even more pain than before.

"Ok, Robin, go ahead, you have come this far already. I am ready."

"Alright, but you might want to put that disc in your mouth now," Robin said softly as we flew over and helped insert the leather disc into her mouth. He then ran his hand up and down her forearm, "Be brave my young lass, be brave. You are almost there."

Robin took a look at how Maleficent's rib cage was expanding and contracting heavily. He could hear the air rush in and out of her nose.

He turned around and flew back with the others.

"Alright everyone, lets take it home!" Robin called out.

All four faeries shot now white whisps into the newly sealed wound, the whisps followed nerve traces in both the wings and Maleficent's stumps the emitions were a much louder static sound.

The pain was incredible, almost twice that of before. One by one she could feel the nerve endings connect. Maleficent closed her eyes very tightly and started to bite hard into the disc. Her arms began to slightly shake and she tried to curl her fingers but couldn't. She did curl her toes. Her breathing intensified. Her mild perspiring, started to turn to sweating. She could feel the beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She looked down to her chest and there too beads of sweat were starting to run down her chest. Her arms were starting to glisten.

'Oh, Oh, Oh my! Oh my!' She was thinking to herself. She began to start to let out louder moans and squeals as she continued to bite down on the disc.

Robin kept thinking about the pain she must be in as he could see her horns moving constantly. He also could hear her small yelps and yells.

"Robin," Flittle called out, "I don't think we can go on anymore, we are depleating too much of our magic."

Robin then turned to Knotgrass and whispered to her, "We can't ask them to do anymore, we might have to do what I said, the wings are just too darn big. It is taking MUCH more magic than I anticipated."

Knotgrass hung her head low, but then said, "Ok, then just you and I, lets finish this."

Knotgrass spun around with one arm and a red whisp shot out to both Flittle and Thistletwit. Both of them collapsed down on to the table and fell asleep.

Robin and Knotgrass continued the nerve rebuilding on their own, but without the help of Flittle and Thistletwit they were using twice their power, the static pitch increased.

Robin began coursing down the length of the top of the wings rebuilding the main nerve.

It was all Maleficent could take. She dropped the disc from her mouth and started to scream.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Tears started to roll from her eyes from the intense pain. Sweat was pouring down her neck. Her arms were shaking more intensly now. Slowly throught the pain she could start to feel the length of her wings coming back to her as the nerves were being healed.

"Ohhhhhhh. Ahhhhhhhh!" she cried out loudly.

"Oh, the poor dear," Robin could feel the tears well up in his eyes as he could only imagine the pain that Maleficent was going through. Robin also noticed that Knotgrass's red glow was starting to become dim. At this rate, she would most certainly run out of magic before the procedure was complete.

Maleficent's began to scream louder as she tried to arch her back. She looked down to her body and her clothes were starting to become stained from her sweat. The veins on her arms were bulging, her muscles were tightening up.

Outside, Aurora was comforting Diaval as he was driven to tears from hearing his lover scream in pain. He kept pulling on the door handle.

"Damn it! She's in horrible pain. I want to be with her to comfort her."

Just then Maleficent let out another loud scream that resonated through the hall.

Aurora too closed her eyes when she heard her godmother sceam.

"No, this isn't normal," Diaval said, "There is something wrong, I never heard her scream like that. She's very strong and doesn't scream."

Aurora then looked to Sir Mark, "Open the door...break it down if you have to."

"But Robin said not to interrupt the process," Sir Mark said.

"I am not saying to interrupt the process, I just want to see what is going on in there. That is my godmother and I have a right to know of her well-being," Aurora commanded.

"As you wish, my queen."

Sir Mark tried the key on the door, but as he thought it wouldn't work with the enchantment that Robin placed on the lock.

He then tried to force the door open along with Diaval by slamming into it, but that didn't work.

Then a faint calling out began to build up slowly into a loud scream.

"Uh uh Uh OH OH OH Owwwwwwwwwwwwwww!"

"Hold on, I will get help," Sir Mark said.

Robin could feel the strain on his body with his magic running overdrive. He flew closer to the back of Maleficent's head as he continued aiming his magic at her back.

"Maleficent can you hear me," he said in a soft voice.

"Yes, Robin" 

"I know you are in pain so you don't have to answer anymore just listen to me."

"Uhhhhh, Ok Ooooohhhh," Maleficent acknowledged through her pain.

"I just want to tell you that it has been a pleasure growing up with you and I enjoyed our moments of fun together. I always enjoyed the practical jokes we played on other fae folk and the fun we had in the mud bogs. There is something I need to tell you."

Maleficent tried to tilt her head further so she could hear Robin's soft voice better.

"Your parents entrusted me with bringing you up, very much like a Godfather. I never accepted the role fully as I always thought of you as my friend. I wanted you to like me and not think of me as a parent. But I will say that I love you as a parent and a friend as well. First and foremost I am your friend until the end."

Maleficent didn't like the tone in his voice.

"Robin? I don't like the sound in your voice, what are you trying to say?"

"That's all, my dear."

"No, that is not all. I feel two beams on my back, what happed to the other two?"

"I have to concentrate on what I am doing now, I am coming close to the end."

"ROBIN? What aren't you telling me!"

Maleficent realized that something may have gone wrong and the tone in Robins voice and what he was saying sounded as if he was leaving.

"Robin! Don't you dare sacrifice yourself!" Maleficent called out.

"Don't worry, dearest Maleficent, Knotgrass is with me and we will heal you all the way."

"Flittle and Thistletwit are tired and we are just taking over for them," Knotgrass said.

"Is that true Thistletwit...Flittle?"

Maleficent listened for an answer, but there was none. She then yelled out in a pain ridden voice, "What did you do to them?"

"Just like Knotgrass said, they were tired and so they are sleeping."

"Robin, Knotgrass, don't do this. Stop now! I order you!"

"We can't, we have to finish, otherwise you will be in great pain."

"I am dealing with it now, don't!"

"If the wings infect, you may never fly."

"Ok, if you will not stop then I will call for Diaval."

"Even if they broke down the door, I would just put him under a sleep spell."

"Damn you Robin! I still need you in my life! Pease!" Maleficent cried out. Tears started to roll down her cheek.

Maleficent started to find herself breathing even heavier and her heart began to pound harder. Suddenly the pain wasn't as intense and subsided a bit.

"If you will not stop, then I will stop you!" she said in an angered tone.

"No Maleficent! You will undermine what we have done it will make it even more difficult to heal you if you don't relax."

Maleficent could feel the anger welling up within her. She started to pull her arms up against the straps, but they held fast and strong. But she kept trying harder and harder. "C'mon Mal!" she said to herself. She looked down at her arms and noticed her veins starting to bulge. 'Yes, be strong!'

"Hmmmmmmmm!" She cried out as she kept pulling up on her arms. The straps started to become very taut and Maleficent could feel the straps start to dig into her shoulders.

"Stop it, Maleficent! I can feel you fighting me," Robin shouted.

"Nnnnooooooooo!" she screamed out pulling up with all her might.

Suddenly there was a deep groan from the wooden platform.

She pulled forward even harder. The straps broke the skin on her shoulders and she was starting to bleed. She could see the blood slowly trickle down over the shoulder strap and on to her biceps. She started to arch her fingers and scratch at the box containing her fingers. Maleficent figured if she could get her fingers free, then she could use her magic to stop Robin and Knotgrass.

The platform gave out another deep moan and then there was a loud pop. One of the bolts sheered off and the head flew between Robin and Knotgrass.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Robin softly said to Knotgrass. "She can't be _that _strong, no way!"

From outside of the room Diaval must have heard the commotion and was yelling to Robin to let him in. He kept pounding and ramming himself into the door.

Maleficent started to pull up on her legs. Even though she knew her arms were stronger than her legs, she had built up her legs from all the walking she did. Perhaps the adreneline would work on her legs too.

The platform was beginning to make even more groaning sounds.

Robin looked to Knotgrass and her red glow was growing dim. She collapsed to one knee.

"Robin, I guess this is going to be goodbye. I hope you can finish the job, I can feel her fighting. I can't fight her."

"GOODBYE? Knotgrass! Nooooo! Nooo! Noooo!"

Maleficent looked up and closed her eyes tight and pulled up on all of her limbs as hard as she could. She looked down at her arms and the veins started to protrude on her biceps and ran to her shoulder which was bleeding even more. Her forearms were riddled with veins of all sizes. She never saw herself that vascular before. She gave another heave and then there was a loud crack of wood splitting, this was followed a few moments later by another crack. Robin looked to the bottom iron rods and noticed the center supports gave way.

"Stop it, Maleficent! Stop it now!"

Maleficent knew she was fighting a losing battle with her hands, she kept digging and clawing away, but they were not budging. She tried to pull on her hands but the wrist and upper arm straps were too tight. She couldn't get enough leverage to pop the boxes containing her hands open.

From outside the room, Diaval was still pounding on the door. Maleficent couldn't make out his muffled screams from the outher side.

Knotgrass then fell to her other knee and began to shake her head.

Robin shook his head and couldn't stand to watch Knotgrass deplete her magic and die. He said, "I am sorry Knotgrass. I cannot go through with this, I can't watch you die, I am going back on my word."

"What?" Knotgrass shot a bewildered look to Robin.

"It's my show to the end now," he said as he shot a red whisp to Knotgrass knocking her unconscious."

Robin then poured his white whips on using both of his hands. The sound of the energy stepped up in both pitch and volume.

"Almost there!" He shouted barely getting over the sound.

Maleficent knew that even if she did break loose from the platform with her hands still captive, she still couldn't use her magic. So she concentrated more on working her fingers loose from the box.

She could feel that now there was only one magic source on her back and since she just heard Robin's voice that meant only one thing. Knotgrass must have exhausted their magic supply and was either dead or close to death. With every ounce of love in her heart and soul, she reached deep within herself.

She screamed out loud "Robin! NOOOOOOOOO!"

Suddenly a backwash of white light eminated from Maleficent that expanded into the room.

"OH SHIT!" Robin exlaimed before the white light hit him square on and blew him right off the table.

Then everything went dark, everything went silent.

"Something's gone terribly wrong!" Queen Aurora said to Sir Joseph and Sir Mark as they arrived with two other guards with them and a large battering ram.

Diaval was sitting on the ground with his knees up and his elbows on his knees. His hands were bleeding from pounding so hard on the door. He ran his fingers through his hair. Sweat was running down his forehead. His battle with the door was lost and he was hanging his head low trying to hide his face as he didn't want the other men to see he was sobbing. He wondered what was going on in that room. Something indeed did go wrong. He couldn't make out the words they were saying, but he knew that Maleficent and Robin were yelling at one another. Then there were those aweful creaking and groaning sounds. Where were they coming from?

All of a sudden after a loud boom, everything went silent in the room.

Diaval looked up with tears in his eyes. "What happened?" he said.

"I don't know," Queen Aurora said.

This motivated Sir Joseph and his men and all four grabbed a hold of the battering ram. As they were ready to swing, the door made a 'click' sound.

Diaval was intrigued by the sound and said to the men, "Hold on there, I heard something." He got up and put his hands on the door and pushed. It opened right up.

Diaval rushed into the room and stopped dead in his tracks. He got a good look at his Maleficent and dropped to his knees and yelled out, "Noooooooooo!"

Aurora was ready to go into the room next when Sir Joseph stopped her, "I am sorry my queen, but let me look first. It is for your safety."

At first Aurora was ready to speak up, but then changed her mind and went with what Sir Joseph suggested.

Diaval wept perfusely as he started to stand up and walked towards the platform. Maleficent laid there with her head down and blood ran from her eyes, nose and shoulders.

"No! No! No! My Maleficent! What have they done to you!"

He took a few more steps and fell short of the platform not bearing to come nearer, he collapsed at the base of the platform, he was fearing the worst.

Sir Joseph looked at Maleficent's condition and then slowly walked over to Diaval and tried to lend a hand to pull him up, but Diaval pushed him away. Understanding Diaval's state of anguish, he then walked over to Maleficent. He reached out and touched her arm, which still felt warm. He then noticed that her chest was rising and falling, he was ready tell Diaval when he heard something.

"Mine sweet," a soft voice, barly a whisper was spoken. "I want Diaval, mine sweet."

Diaval jumped up from his curled up position on the floor and nearly pushed Sir Joseph out of the way.

Diavals hands were shaking as he lifted his lover's chin. She barely opened her eyes and she cracked a small smile.

"I...I will leave you two alone, but if you need me I will be outside," Sir Joseph said his voice quavering.

"Thank you Sir Joseph, and I am sorry for being rude just now, it is just..."

Sir Joseph interruped, "You don't need to say anymore. I understand."

Diaval nodded and then Sir Joseph turned and left the room.

"Mine sweet, my love. Are we now alone?"

"Yes! Yes! Oh! Thank goodness you are alive! I thought something badly went wrong. I saw all the blood and I...I thought I lost you." Diaval jumped up on the platform, buried his face into her chest and wept uncontrollably.

"No, Diaval, I wouldn't do that to you. I am worse for wear right now, but I will live and will live long for you."

Diaval lifted his head up tears still rolling down his cheeks. "You have no idea how happy you have just made me."

"You are touching my heart, Diaval. You always know how to make me feel wanted and that is why I wouldn't leave you alone. I know you need me, and I need you..." she paused and looked at each of her arms at how they were bleeding, then she said, "...especially now. I am bleeding."

Diaval his hands on each side of her face and pressed his lips against hers. She let out a sigh. But her kiss felt very weak. Diaval didn't linger and withdrew.

Maleficent with her eyes still closed said, "No No, don't stop. It might sound strange, but your kissing me actually helps with the pain."

"Are you in very much pain?" Diaval asked as he continued to hold her head in his hands. He found he was rubbing her cheekbones with his thumbs.

"Yes, it is a bit difficult to bear, but it is better than moments ago, before I passed out," She opened her eyes and noticed that Diaval had a rim of red around his mouth and a blood stain on his cheek from when he kissed her.

"Yes, I could hear you screaming from outside the doorm," he said.

"You have my blood around your mouth."

"Oh," Diaval said as his eyes looked around for a cloth.

"I have a hankerchief in my left pocket, Diaval."

Diaval reached into her pocket and took it out. He first wiped the blood that was running from her nose down her neck. She tilted her head back so he could get better access. Her nose appeared to have stopped bleeding. He wiped her red tears away next. Finally he wiped his own mouth clean.

Maleficent just closed her eyes and answered, "Just kiss me again."

Diaval complied and the two locked lips making the kiss a little deeper this time.

Sir Joseph said to Queen Aurora, "I don't think you should go in there."

"Rat's butt I am so going in there! I heard Diaval crying his heart out and I want to know what has happened to my Godmother!"

"As you wish my queen," Sir Joseph was stunned by Queen Aurora's lude remark as he stepped aside and opened his hand towards the door.

Aurora ran into the room to find Maleficent and Diaval locked in a kiss. The two broke the kiss immediately when they heard Queen Aurora speak.

"Oh, Oh, Godmother, I guess you _are_ fine," Queen Aurora smiled a bit seeing her godmother in a deep kiss with Diaval, but she then turned serious when she got a good look at her shoulders. "Oh my!, your shoulders! What happened?"

Diaval broke the kiss and both he and Maleficent looked to Aurora.

Aurora didn't wait for an answer and she jumped up on to the platform, grabbed her own hankerchief and started to wipe the blood from her Godmother's arms, Diaval continued with her other arm, but the small hankerchiefs were soon loaded with blood and unlike Maleficent's face, they were still slowly bleeding.

"Yes, I am ok, Beastie." Maleficent said, "Robin...Knotgrass. Please check them."

Sir Joseph came back into the room but stayed by the door and shouted in, "Your excellencies, pardon me, but I have sent for some medical supplies and a wash basin."

Maleficent looked up to him, "Sir Joseph?"

"Yes, your excellency?" he answered as he stepped into the room and then continued. "I am happy you made it through, we will get you cleaned up as soon as possible."

"Thank you, but help Queen Aurora check Robin and the others."

"Absolutely."

Sir Joseph joined Queen Aurora from behind the platform.

Diaval keep looking at the straps on the platform trying to find a way to undo them. Suddenly he shouted out, "Would someone help me get my lady out of this confounded contraption!"

Diaval saw the crank and cranked the platfrom back up to about 75 degrees as Sir Mark came into the room. Sir Mark showed Diaval what to do with the straps and the two of them started to free Maleficent's hands and arms first.

"Just stay back, my dear. They are coming with some bandages and I will clean you up and dress your wounds." Diaval said assertively.

Maleficent smiled admiring Diaval's determined voice and watched as her man frantically was undoing the buckles around her wrists and arms. When her hands were free she began to rub them after being for a long while in those boxes. There were deep marks left on her wrists from her struggling earlier.

"I don't believe this!" Sir Mark gasped as he got a good look at the platform, "The iron bars are bent! The center supports are shattered." He scratched his head thinking of the impossibily of such a slim built woman being able to bend a solid iron bar that was as thick as his own arms. "Impossible!" He said as he couldn't believe his eyes.

"There was a tone in Robin's voice that lead me to believe that he tried to sacrifice himself, and possibly Knotgrass too for me. I didn't want him to do that, so I tried to get out." Maleficent said.

"And you ended up hurting yourself too!" Diaval exclaimed as he took a good look at Maleficent's arms after removing the shoulder straps. She had a slit on each arm. It wasn't very deep, but still bleeding nontheless.

Aurora and Sir Joseph soon came around from the back of the platform and she said, "I believe they are all OK. They are all breathing."

Maleficent let out a sigh of relief, but then said, "How bright are their aura's"

"Their what?" Sir Joseph said.

"Their aura, their colors. When faeries of their breed have strong magic within them they have a bright aura around their bodies. When their magic is depleted they will have a dim or no aura."

"Ok, godmother," Aurora continued. "Flittle and Thistletwit have a good solid color. Knotgrass has as a dim red glow, but Robin has almost no glow at at all."

"Damn you Robin." Maleficent said in a soft voice so no one would hear.

"What happened in here?" Queen Aurora said again.

"I will tell you later, Beastie, Right now I just want to lie down and rest."

A couple of servants showed up wheeling a cart of supplies into the room. Diaval greeted them and expressed a desire to take care of Maleficent himself. They told him what to do and when Diaval fully understood their instructions he dismissed them. He then turned to Queen Aurora and then discussed a plan.

"Ok, I will take care of Maleficent and get her fixed up," Diaval said.

"I will have the four faeries put into a royal suite so they can rest up," Queen Aurora said.

"We will need someone to go the Moors and muster up some faeries with healing abilities, perhaps they can give us a better idea of the condition of the four," Diaval said.

"I can go," Sir Joseph said.

"No I would rather go myself as the fae folk know me by now," Aurora said, "I will need a horse as I doubt Godmother is in any condition to turn Diaval into one."

"As you wish, your majesty, I will prep a horse for you at once." Sir Joseph bowed as he put his arm across his chest and he left the room.

There was a large basket with a towel in on the bottom of the cart. Queen Aurora pulled the basket out and went behind the platform. Carefully, one by one lifted each of the four faeries into the basket. She then looked to Diaval and said, "I will bring them to their suite and will meet up with you both later, and godmother, I would like you to finally tell me what happened in here."

"Yes, Aurora, I will in good time, but please let me rest for now."

"Of course, Godmother. I am just glad you are alive."

"I am too. I am just worried about poor Robin."

"Well, I best be off then so I can get these four some help."

Maleficent just dipped her head down. Sir mark was finished with the last of the straps.

"Sir Mark,"

"Yes, Sir Diaval,"

"Well, I am not a sir as of yet, but I would like to be alone with Maleficent right now."

"Of course, as you wish, you can lock the door if you wish to do so. I will be waiting outside. When you are done, give me a hollar and I will help you separate the platform.

"Separate?"

"Well, yes. Her wings are now attached, we have to separate the platform to free her from it."

"Oh, yes, of course."

Diaval walked Sir Mark out of the room and locked the door behind him.

"Alone at last, mine sweet?" Maleficent said seductively.

"Yes, my love. Is 'mine sweet' my new pet name now?"

"Uh huh" she said, but then she scrunched her face up as another wave of pain coursed through her back.

"Are you OK, my love."

"Yes, just a small wave of pain."

Diaval held her hand until the wave passed. The then went over to the cart and began to prepare a couple towels one with just water and another with soap and water from the basin. Even though he and Aurora cleaned up most of the blood on Maleficents body, the small hankerchiefs smeared some of it. In addition while the bleeding was slowing down, it wasn't long before more blood was trickling down Maleficent's arms. He took the towel with plain water and walked over to Maleficent. He took his arm in his hand and gently rubbed the cut on her shoulder cleaning it. There was a disinfectant cream on the cart too which he fetched.

"I am sorry my dear but this is going to sting a little."

Maleficent nodded in acknowledgement.

He then applied it to her shoulder. She closed her eyes tightly as Diaval applied the cream. There was a good stinging sensation. After he was done, he went back to the cart and retrieved a bandage. Diaval gently raised his lover's arm and started to wrap her shoulder. He tied it down as instructed. Maleficent raised her arm and admired Diaval's handiwork.

"My, you are becoming quite the nursemaid."

"Well, they told me what to do. But I know you don't want them touching you, I am going to fix you up."

Maleficent smiled as she watched Diaval work, wrapping her arms up and then wiping the blood from her arms. He then held her chin and wiped her face and cheeks. She didn't have to do a thing but lay still. The look in Diaval's eyes was of pure love. She could tell he thoroughly enjoyed fixing her up. He slowed down and stopped looking deep into her eyes.

Diaval was lost in her eyes. Their beautiful colors shown brightly in the light. He couldn't bear the thought of not looking in those eyes. He ran his fingers down her arms, closed his eyes and place his head on her chest as he held her hands. Their fingers meshed.

Maleficent just closed her eyes as Diaval laid his head on her chest. She rested her head on top of his. After a few moments she said softly, "Come now, my love. Please remove me from this wretched room. I can bear it no more."

Diaval called for Sir Mark and the two of them separated the top panel from the lower section of the platform. After placing the panel off to the side Diaval looked up at Maleficent standing there. With the panel gone, he could finally see what she looked like with her wings. Her wings were outstretched still supported by the rigging, but the sheer impact of the large wingspan was easily seen. Maleficent reached back and ran her fingers along the top edge of the wings.

"They are truly magnificent, my dear." Diaval said in awe. She did look very beautiful. He walked over to her and faced her from the front taking in the sheer size of her wings. She placed her hands on her waist.

"Do you like what you see?"

Diaval nodded. Suddenly he could feel that all to familiar tingle and he could feel himself become firmer. He then said to Sir Mark, "Uuuummmm, Sir Mark, do you think can excuse us?"

"Sure, in fact all you have to do is undo the clips on her wings here, there and there and she will be free."

"Thank You."

Sir Mark left the room closing the door behind him.

Maleficent smiled and outstretched her arms beckoning Diaval to come into her arms. At first Diaval rushed to her and was ready to throw his arms around her but then stopped as he didn't know how to embrace her with her wings and further, he was afraid of hurting her since she was in pain. Diaval looked over her shoulder and figured he could just put one arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist. The two pulled each other close. Diaval could feel his growing manhood press up against her leg.

Maleficent took notice of Diaval's condition and said, "Oh, Diaval...Is it seeing me with my wings."

"Yes," he whispered into her ear. "You look really hot with your wings."

"Thank you my love. I can't wait until they are strong enough that I can display for you and then finally fly for you."

"That will be amazing, I just know it will be. I can't wait to fly _with _you."

"Either can I," she said as she yawned putting her hand over her mouth.

"The pain is coming back, my love, and I would like to rest."

"Oh, Ok. Let me see how I can get you out of this rig."

Diaval walked around to the back of Maleficents wing's and he gasped at how magnificent her wings looked from the back. How the wings curved around and finally made their attachment to her back was breathtaking. The stumps that would cause him pain upon looking at them were replaced with a large set of Majestic wings back where they supposed to be. He couldn't help but gasp and say, "Oh My!"

"I something wrong, Diaval?"

"No. Your wings they are so beautiful even from your back. They curve so beautifully. Absolutely majestic."

"Thank you Diaval. They were always my best feature, I love them very much. Now I am complete, now I can be beautiful for you."

"Oh, Maleficent, my love, you were always beautiful to me without your wings, but I do admit this is the cherry on top of the pie."

Maleficent tried to turn around and smile, but she found even turning her neck too far caused pain in her back.

He couldn't help but reach up and run his finger down from the wing horn on her right side all the way to base. She flinched a bit.

"Oh, sorry my love, does it hurt."

"When you get close to the stumps it does a little, but I did feel your finger running on the edge. So I do have feeling in them."

Diaval then examined the harness and gently, one by one undid the clips holding her wings. First he did the right wing. When the last clip was undone he carefully lowered her wing down.

Maleficent's face grimaced a bit as he lowered her wing to her side. He did the same for the other side.

"Can you move your wings at all?"

Maleficent scrunched her face up and tried to retract her wings on her own. There was a slight upward movement, but it was causing her discomfort. She tried harder scrunching her face even tighter. They came up a bit more but then they just shuddered and she released.

"No, Diaval, It just hurts too much."

"Well, I am going to have to fold them up for you and tie them into position," Diaval said.

"Ok, just go very slow."

"I will," Diaval said as he yanked one of the support lines down. "I will try to tie the line up in such a way so it will not be seen."

"Thank you Diaval for thinking that way. I do want to be seen with my wings folded high. For once I will feel proud again."

"Yes, my love."

Diaval carefully lifted up her wings. He could tell the movement was causing her pain as her breathiing became erratic. When he had her wings folded upright, he gently tied the upper wings together. The lower wings just draped down to her side and laid up against the platform.

He came back to the front and took her hands and said, "Ok, can you step down and walk on your own?"

"Yes, I think I can."

Maleficent slowly stepped down off the platform. Her body shook a bit off balance as she took her first step down. Diaval immediately changed his hand hold from her hands to her waist. She moved her other foot off the platform.

"Ok, can you walk?"

She took a few steps forward, "I think so."

He slowly led her to the door and unlocked it. He assisted her slowly into the hallway while explaining to her how Sir Joseph had their bed modified to allow Maleficent to sleep with her wings outstretched so they could heal properly. As they moved down the hall Diaval noticed that her breathing became heavier and heavier. Soon they reached the first of four flights of steps up.

"Diaval, I am beginning to get faint."

Diaval gulped hard and replied, "Well then, I am going to have to carry you."

"Diaval, are you sure?"

"Well, I am going to have to try, but we probably are going to have to make stops."

Maleficent nodded her head. Diaval looked around her body to find out the exact places he could hold her.

Maleficent said, "Ok, I think you should will pick me up by the underside of my knees with one arm. Then with your other arm hold my back just under my wings..."

"But that is very high up your back, will holding you there be painful?" Diaval interrupted.

"Yes, it might be. When you start to lift me, I will wrap my arms around your shoulder clasping my fingers together."

"Ok, that sounds good."

"Ready?"

"Yes."

Diaval reached down and while holding her lower back, he pulled her legs up off the floor. She swung her arms over his head and locked her hands around his shoulder. As he lifted her up her hands she pushed his sleeve down his shoulder exposing it.

Diaval was a little shaky at first but then he adjusted his arms to a more comfortable position.

He then noticed Maleficent closed her eyes tightly.

"Are you in pain."

"Yes, Diaval." Her head was slightly over his and she looked down at his face and he looked up at her. She could tell in his face that he was straining himself.

"Diaval, I hope I am not too heavy for you."

"Maleficent my love, don't take this the wrong way, but yes, you are very heavy."

She smirked at him.

Then he started up the steps slowly. He was a bit shaky with each step.

"Diaval, if you get tired, let me know and we will stop, the last thing I need right now is for both of us to fall down the steps."

"Alright, but I am good right now."

As Diaval neared the top of the first flight of steps he started to breath heavy. But everything went fine and he walked at a brisker pace with her down the hall. He kept looking down as he noticed that her wings were dragging on the floor and he tried hard not to step on them. Maleficent could see Diaval's chest expanding and contracting a bit heavier as they moved down the hall. Despite her weight, Diaval tried to move with a very soft and graceful step to aborb as much shock as possible so his lady wouldn't feel it.

The thought of how softly Diaval was carrying her made Maleficent feel better and the moment even helped with her pain. She loved being carried. As they reached the second flight of steps, which was longer than the first, Maleficent could feel the muscles in Diaval's arms straining under her weight. She could feel his shoulder muscles moving under his skin. She couldn't help but look around at his shoulder. His muscles were contracted so heavily, every single ripple was visible. A good sized vein also appeared to run from his shoulder up his neck. Diaval started to breath through his mouth now and his chest was expanding and contracting even more.

When they got to the top of the steps Maleficent said, "Diaval, you are straining. I don't need you getting hurt over me."

Diaval saw a couple of benches at the end of the hall next to another flight of steps. He started to move towards them, but mistepped and ended up stepping on one of Maleficent's wing.

"Owww!"

"Oh, I am so sorry, my love."

"Oh, wow! That went through me!"

"We will rest a bit by these benches"

"Yes."

Diaval ended up sitting on the bench but still holding on to Maleficent as he was carrying her.

"Diaval, you can put me down on the bench."

"I think it would just be easier after I rest to just stand up already holding you."

"Ok, I just was thinking about your comfort, but I certainly don't mind being held by you like this."

Maleficent then placed her head on his his and closed her eyes. Diaval also closed his eyes, his breathing was still heavy. After a few moment Diaval grasped his lady's body tight as he was getting ready to stand up.

"Diaval, that wasn't long enough. Rest some more. You are still breathing hard."

"Well, I want to get you into bed so you can rest."

"I am resting right now on you. Catch your breath, when you are breathing normal then we can go."

"Diaval shook his head in agreement."

"Diaval?"

"Yes"

"Look up at me"

Diaval looked up as he did so, her hand pushed his head towards her lips. Almost immediately she was driving a hard kiss.

"hmmmmmm," Diaval hummed.

As Maleficent drove her tongue down hard into Diaval's mouth, she could actually feel the pain in her back subside. It was as if her show of affection for Diaval's labor was actually a sort of anesthetic that lessened the pain in her back.

The two kissed for a very long time never separating their lips. But Diaval started to breath heavy again and Maleficent reluctantly broke the kiss.

"I see I am making you excited when you should be calming down. Ooops." Maleficent giggled.

"Are you feeling better?" Diaval asked.

"Actually, yes. Kissing you for some reason is helping with the pain."

"Really?"

"Uh huh."

Soon Diaval's breathing returned to normal and they headed up the next flight of steps. Luckily this flight wasn't as long and there was only one more set of steps left to go...the largest flight yet.

Diaval's long rest was unfortunatley short lived as he eyed the final set of steps. The fortunate thing was that this set of steps folded back on itself and had a landing because of the high ceiling on the main floor.

Diavals legs began to shake as he started up the final flight.

"Diaval, are you OK?"

He shook his head, 'Yes'. Beads of sweat were starting to form on his head. Maleficent could feel the heat coming off his overtaxed body. She could feel his hands start to shake.

"You are becoming suddenly heavier, my dear."

"No, Diaval, you are just very tired. Do you think you can make it?"

"I don't know, but we are going to stop at the landing."

Suddendly Diaval mistepped and faltered a bit and started to arch back. Luckily they were close to the banister and Maleficent reached across his back and slammed her hand down on the banister and held fast.

"Whew! That was close! Thank goodness you have fast hands, my dear."

"Well, I didn't want to see us take a tumble," she said as she looked at the flight of steps behind them as they were only several steps from the landing. A fall from that height would have certainly be disastrous.

Diaval, being scared of nearly falling, took the last few steps one at a time placing both feet on each step pulling her up on his stronger leg with each step. At the top of the landing he raced over to a bench that was on the landing and sat down hard.

"Oh!" Maleficent called out.

"I'm sorry," Diaval panted through his breathing. His mouth hung open wide and sweat was rolling down his forehead.

"I don't think I can make the last set up, but who else can carry you? You don't want anyone else to touch you."

"Well, if we have to rest longer here then so be it. Once we get to the top perhaps I can try and walk again to the room."

Diaval shook his head, "No, I don't want you becoming faint on me, if you pass out, I will not be able to carry you. I need you to hold on to me." Diaval paused a bit and then continued, "Sheesh I am ready to pass out myself."

Maleficent had a worried look on her face as she rubbed Diaval's sweating face and kissed him on the forehead. She then rubbed his shoulder which was also starting to glisten from sweat. In the light she could make out easier how his shoulder rippled when his muscles contracted.

She was thinking of his arms and how large they were in comparison to hers. She tried to cup her hand around his shoulder and she noticed how wide his shoulder felt. Now that he was over strained his shoulder felt even wider than ever. Every now and then he would flinch and she would see the muscles twitching. She would run her fingers on every line that moved beneath his skin. She phased out for a moment trying to concentrate on the moment instead of the pain in her back.

Diaval noticed what Maleficent was doing and said, "You seem to take a liking to that shoulder, huh?"

"Yes. You have nice strong arms, "she then looked down to Diavals legs, "And legs too. I am amazed at how far you were able to carry me."

"I didn't think I would be able to either, but there is a force inside me that drives me forward. I just am determined to get you to that room."

"Diaval, you are a gem. I couldn't thank you enough for this. You are always there for me."

"Well, I know you don't like to be touched and honestly, I really don't want anyone touching you either. It does make me feel special that I am the only one you allow to touch you."

"Diaval, you are not human, you are a devoted raven. You have proven your loyalty to me when you were my servant. I have known you for over 17 years. You are someone I can trust."

"How about Aurora?"

"Yes, I do trust her as well and I have been allowing her to touch me more and more, but still it isn't the same fully relaxed feeling as when you touch me. Your hand and your is like a signature, I know it is you and I am comfortable. This is why you need not be jealous about Sir Joseph. The night of the ball he did unintenionally put his hand on my shoulder. It just made me cringe...it wasn't your hand. I did give him a glare and looked down at his hand. He quickly withdrew it."

"Wow, I feel honored."

"Eventually I might be more comfortable with Aurora, but besides her, I will never ever let another human touch me again. Stefan ruined that for them."

Just then at the top of the steps came a voice, "My, my what are you to love birds up to? Taking a break for a kiss?"

Diaval said, "Been there, done that two staircases ago."

Maleficent couldn't help but giggle, but then she winced in pain. "Please Diaval, don't make me laugh, it hurts too much."

"We are just taking a break," Diaval continued. "Maleficent might be a slim woman, but she sure is heavy being so tall and her wings too."

Aurora looked in shock. "Diaval, did you carry her nearly up all four flights?"

"Yes, and I am pooped!"

"Let me help you then get her up these last steps."

"No, it would be easier on my own, but do you know what you can do?"

"What?"

"Stand behind me and hold my back while holding on to the banister. I nearly took a tumble before and if it wasn't for Maleficent's fast hands we would have fallen down together."

"Yes, of course."

Queen Aurora came down the steps as Diaval braced one more time to pick up Maleficent. His legs started to shake as he pulled her up.

Maleficent could feel her eyes welling up as she was so proud of Diaval for soldiering on through is exhaustion. She knew without a doubt this was a man that would always be there for her. She started to think of other thoughts as they slowly step by step ascended the final set of steps. She thought of herself in a beautiful white gown and Diaval standing next to her as they would have a traditional human style wedding. Seeing a wedding as a girl had her dreaming of one day having her own. But Stefan shattered that dream. But now with her love and wings restored to her body, she now thought about it again. She knew she wanted to marry the man that was carrying her up the steps. She closed her eyes and envisioned him carrying her to their bedroom to make love for the first time as husband and wife.

When at the top, Diaval did not put her down but still carried on and proceeded to carry her down the hall to the bedroom.

"Diaval!" both Maleficent and Aurora shouted.

"You can put me down now and I will try to walk," Maleficent said.

"No, we are almost there and it will be faster this way," He was huffing and puffing as he continued down the hall. His legs were noticably shaking and his arms too.

"Diaval, you are starting to fall apart," Aurora said as she noticed his limbs shaking with every step now.

"I am almost there, Aurora. I can do this."

The hallway seemed like it was a mile long as Diaval could feel himself giving out. But he managed to get his woman across the threshold of the doorway when his legs just gave out. Aurora was nearby and she helped to steady Maleficent and she guided her the rest of the way to the bed and sat her down on it.

Diaval crawled the rest of the way into the room on all fours panting like a wolf. After Aurora had Maleficent on the bed. She quickly ran to Diaval and attempted to get him back on his feet. He shook his head, 'no' and pulled himself up into the bed next to Maleficent.

"Oh, my goodness, I am NEVER doing that again." Diaval said, "Sorry, my love."

"Diaval you have done more than enough," Maleficent said as she rubbed his arm. "You're such a strong man. I will remember this moment for the rest of my life."

Diaval smiled at Maleficent's comments and then closed his eyes. He just took in the feeling of his woman rubbing his arm. Soon he drifted off to sleep.

"Oh my, he just went right out," Aurora said.

"Yes, I don't think I ever saw him fall asleep that quickly before either. Poor Diaval, so exhausted." Maleficent said.

"I must say that you look amazing with those wings."

"Thank you Beastie."

Maleficent looked in back of her at the rigging that was placed on her side of the bed. The rigging would help keep her wings outstretched. A small platform supported her back and another platform had a pillow on it higher up on the wall. This allowed her to sleep on an angle while keeping her wings outstretched.

Aurora helped Maleficent get into the the rigging and attached her wings to the clips.

"My goodness, you certainly have some wingspan, Godmother. Oh, I can't wait to see you fly."

Aurora looked back and then tears started to well up in her eyes.

"Aurora, what is wrong?"

"To think my awful father took something so wonderful away from you and now what you have to go through just to fly again."

Aurora threw herself on the bed and wrapped her arms around Maleficents waist and cried into her stomach.

Maleficent could feel the tears welling up in her eyes too as she stroked Aurora's golden hair. With her other hand she stroked Diavals hair. She closed her eyes and let the soothing feeling of hair between her fingers relax her. Eventually she too fell fast asleep.

Diaval awoke much later in the day, it was close to evening now. Aurora was not in the room and Maleficent was sleeping in her rig on the bed. She was nicely covered up. Diaval looked at how peaceful she looked lying down. She seemed to be relaxed and not in pain at the moment. He wanted to caress her cheekbones but feared he would wake her.

Suddenly the doors burst open to the bedroom and Aurora ran in, tears were running down her face. The loud sound startled Maleficent awake.

"What is it Beastie?"

"Godmother! Diaval! Robin is dying!"


End file.
